Spiritual wisdom – Wisdom From the Word

Spiritual Victory Part 3

As previously noted, here we are looking at Galatians 5, more specifically the contrast between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit, which is followed by Paul’s exhortation to walk in the Spirit. Here we will also examine the role of repentance. Our background is that in Romans 6 we were instructed to consider ourselves dead to sin, as a recognition of what our baptism symbolized, and then to present ourselves, our whole being, to God as ‘being alive from the dead.’ We were called to live out our new life in Christ. Galatians 5 lists the types of things we are to consider ourselves dead to and what we are to be alive to, in two lists.

¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, ²¹ envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. ²⁴ And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. Galatians 5:19–26 (NKJV)

These two contrasting lists are illustrative, and come across as comprehensive. I think we can find any sin we are aware of or have committed falling in or subsumed somewhere in Paul’s list of the ‘works of the flesh.’ In a similar way, what more needs to be seen in our lives to reflect Jesus beyond the list we have of the ‘fruit of the Spirit?’

Now while it is easy to say that we are to consider ourselves as dead to sin and alive to God, in practice it doesn’t seem to be that easy. This is where repentance comes in. The gateway to salvation is repentance. We may have heard or been told that repent means ‘to turn and go the other way.’ Yet that isn’t actually what John and Jesus were preaching.

⁴ John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Mark 1:4 (NKJV)

¹⁴ Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:14–15 (NKJV)

The word in Greek means to change our mind not our behaviour. A change in behaviour is the fruit of repentance. John and Jesus were both after a change in behaviour but as the outcome of a changed mind and heart.

Understanding this brings us full circle back to Romans 6. When we change our mind about how we view and understand what happened at our conversion and the implications, we engage in a corresponding change in behaviour. We need to see the works of the flesh in Galatians 5 as something we no longer are, nor need to participate in. Then as we consider ourselves alive to God our behaviour undergoes a corresponding change and the fruit of the Spirt grows in our lives.

Now, back to repentance. Imagine you are walking East, you realize you are going in the wrong direction and should be headed West. You stop and change direction. Your repentance was the realization that you were going the wrong way and needed to change direction. Changing direction is the fruit of repentance. Now there is an important qualifier. If we change direction from East to West but continue looking back East, longingly or otherwise, we will find ourselves continually being tripped up because we cannot see where we are going. We will apply this more practically.

Imagine that you struggle with bitterness toward someone over a wrong they have committed against you. You realize that it is constantly intruding on your thought life, and that you want to let go of it. So, you get alone with the Lord and repent of holding onto bitterness and pray for the individual as Jesus instructs us (Matthew 5:43-48). However, the negative thoughts keep returning, here is where we need to choose to consider ourselves dead to bitterness and alive to Jesus in this scenario. This is where our feelings begin to change. We begin to feel His peace in our lives, and we may begin to feel love toward the individual who wronged us.

Now, I am not suggesting this is an easy process. It may be very emotionally painful and it may take a protracted period of time. We may find ourselves looking back and tripping at times. However, the important element is choosing to engage in the process to walk in spiritual victory in our lives. That has been my goal in these posts on spiritual victory, the practical application of scripture to our daily lives. I trust they have been helpful.

Spiritual Victory Part 2

In my last post I highlighted the reality of spiritual warfare and using the example of discouragement pointed out that spiritual victory was found in obeying the scriptural injunction to give thanks in all things to change our feeling state and perspective. Here we will look at a key passage related to spiritual victory.

¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. ¹³ And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. ¹⁴ For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Romans 6:12–14 (NKJV)

Here in Romans 6 Paul directs us to not allow sin to reign in our lives, which assumes we are able to live this out. To facilitate our understanding we look at one more passage which is regularly looked at in relation to spiritual victory.

⁴ For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, ⁵ casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 2 Corinthians 10:4–5 (NKJV)

We begin connecting the dots by looking at a key Greek word.

ὅπλον hoplon; a prim. word; a tool, implement, weapon:—armor(1), instruments(2), weapons(3).^[1]

The word ‘weapons’ in 2 Corinthians 10:4 is hoplon, it is also the word used twice in Romans 6:13 and translated as ‘instruments.’ An instrument is a tool we can use. A translators note in my bible at Romans 6:13 points out that ‘instruments’ could also be translated as ‘weapons.’ So Paul could have just as easily written ‘instruments’ in 2 Corinthians 10. Now we can bring some things together.

Let me begin with a crude analogy. A hammer is an instrument that can be used to build a house or be handled as a tool to tear things down or a weapon used to harm. The use is determined by the user. In our case we need to see our bodies as both instruments and weapons of righteousness. This encompasses our thoughts, actions and attitudes.

In Romans 6 Paul’s primary point is that we break the dominion of sin over our lives by presenting our bodies to God is ‘instruments of righteousness.’ This echoes the well-known Romans 12:1-2, which Paul comes to later. However, the injunction in 6:13 also follows on the heels of Paul’s teaching on baptism. We need to see the precedent to achieve the outcome.

Paul focuses on the importance and impact of baptism in Romans 6. After explaining how going into the water is like going into the grave and rising to a new life Paul tells us that in Christ, we are called to consider our old life a thing of the past and leave it in the past. He states it this way.

¹¹ Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:11 (NKJV)

We are to let of the old and focus on the new. We are to see our body as in ‘instrument of righteousness’ set apart for His purposes. This obviously is to impact how we live.

We walk in spiritual victory over temptation and darkness by how we view what He has accomplished in our lives and our identification with His death and resurrection. Over two decades the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, “Become who you are.” This meant I needed to find my identify in Jesus as a new creation. However, the qualifier is that to live out a new creation identity I need to let go of my identity as an old creation. That is the point of baptism in Romans 6. I leave my old identity, habits and views in the grave and rise to walk in newness of life keeping in step with the Spirit and renew my mind based on His word. We may at times revert to our old identity but our call is to reckon the past as dead and gone and focus on our new life in Christ. This is the path to spiritual victory. As Paul put it elsewhere, particularly in verse 6.

⁴ I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, ⁵ hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, ⁶ that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. Philemon 4–6 (NKJV)

Next week we will look at how to apply this in relation to Galatians 5 and the role of repentance.

^[1] Robert L. Thomas, New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries : Updated Edition (Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc., 1998).

Spiritual Victory Part 1

I felt the need to address spiritual warfare as it is a part of our walk with Jesus whether or not we choose to embrace the battle. Knowing that, it is better to be equipped to fight and win, hence the title. I will cover a variety of areas, beginning with a practical approach to combating discouragement as I think it is at times common to all of us. However, first we need a scriptural foundation. Paul describes our battle.

¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Ephesians 6:12–13 (NKJV)

There are a few things we can see here. The first is that Paul is pointing out that the unseen spiritual realm influences us in the natural realm. He also compared our battle to wrestling, a close contact affair. The battle is happening in and around us, not in some distant place. In addition, while Paul will later in this chapter include prayer as the covering over spiritual warfare, the primary way we fight is by how we live and by wearing the armour Yahweh provides. Unlike some sadly common practices in the body of Christ, spiritual warfare isn’t about railing at the heavens, it is about living a godly life that influences the atmosphere and lives of those around us, prayer and intercession being a part of that life.

An example of spiritual warfare is found in heeding the verses below. In particular these verses are the antidote to discouragement. As someone once said, our spiritual enemy uses two basic strategies against us, he tries to slow us down, generally through discouragement or a sense of hopelessness or futility, wanting us to give up or give in. The goal being our abandonment of Jesus calling and purpose in our life. The other approach is to push us to go beyond what Jesus is calling us to or to try and hurry His work in our lives. Abraham and Hagar producing Ishmael being a good example of the latter. Now to the verses we can apply to combat discouragement and related feelings.

²⁰ giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Ephesians 5:20 (NKJV)

⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; Philippians 4:6 (NKJV)

¹⁷ And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Colossians 3:17 (NKJV)

¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NKJV)

Paul directs us to have a thankful attitude and practice no matter our circumstances. Ephesians 6:14-18 outline the various pieces of armour and the role of prayer in achieving spiritual victory. When I recognize that I have His righteousness through my conversion, embrace the truth of that and then choose to direct my thinking to thankfulness I am using the armour Paul describes.

To break this down a bit further, have you ever considered the role your thinking has in how you feel. You watch a sad movie and began to feel a bit morose. You watch a comedy and find yourself laughing and feeling better. There is an expression, ‘what you focus on grows.’ This is true of how our thought life influences our emotions. I once listened to a researcher being interviewed who was studying depression. He had his subjects create a composite of the saddest events in their lives, weave them into a single story and then think on these things while their brain activity was monitored. The result, they felt very said and their higher brain functions shut down. He didn’t study the opposite, having research subjects create a composite of the most joyful moments in their lives then dwelling on them but I can predict what would happen in their brains!

If we heed the scriptural injunctions around how we are to function it will lead to change in our lives. Let’s do that.

More to come.

The Face-to-Face Place

The term ‘The Face-to-Face Place’ came to me while writing my last post. It is rooted in both the Old and New Testaments as can be seen in Exodus 33 and 2 Corinthians 3.

¹¹ So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle. Exodus 33:11 (NKJV)

¹² Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech – ¹³ unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. 2 Corinthians 3:12–13 (NKJV)

In 2 Corinthians 3 Paul makes an explicit link between the glory that Moses experienced in Exodus 33-34 and what is available to us with Christ living within us. Paul’s primary point is that we have the ability to access something greater, a growing intimacy with Jesus that will not fade away like the glory did on Moses face.

Now while the text in Exodus 33 refers to face to face communication and Exodus 34:29 refers to Moses face shining, we need to dig a little deeper into what Moses experienced. In Hebrew the word translated face also means presence. Which is what Moses experienced. When Moses asked to see His glory, Yahweh was clear that Moses had not seen His actual face nor could he see it and live.

¹⁸ And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.” ¹⁹ Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” ²⁰ But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” Exodus 33:18–20 (NKJV)

Now back to the connection Paul made. Given what we have just looked at we don’t need to physically ‘see’ Jesus to meet with Him face to face because it is actually about presence. We encounter Him with the eyes of our heart. Our passage below also connects to Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1 for us to have a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.

¹⁵ But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. ¹⁶ Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. ¹⁸ But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:15–18 (NKJV)

Paul is telling both what is available and how to access this transformation. I don’t know many of us press into the face-to-face place, I simply know it is available and that I have tasted of it. I will explain.

When I think of what is available in and through Jesus I think of it in a couple of ways. The first is an illustration that came to me the other day while driving. I noticed all of the manhole covers on and the road and began reflecting on how the infrastructure that powers our city is mostly hidden. From water and sewage to electricity, it is there keeping everything functioning but most of us don’t think about it or ever access it, only a few do. Now in this case those who access to this hidden infrastructure have both the authority and responsibility to do so. For us, we also have authority and responsibility. In Jesus we have both the authority to access the face-to-face place and the responsibility. He invites us in but He never forces us.

So, what does this place look like? I think it is different for each of us. I have a friend who regularly encounters the Lord and hears His voice when spending time in scripture or working in the yard. For me, I experience His presence when I choose to simply sit in His presence focusing my heart on Him. I generally hear His voice for others while in intercession for them, in worship, or while ministering to people in being with them and praying for them.

However this may work in our lives, our goal is not mystical contemplation but the training of our heart, remember the centre of heart is ‘ear’ the face-to-face place is about training our heart to focus on Him, know His presence and hear His voice. This is the secret place Jesus referenced in Matthew 6:6. A recent experience I had may help to bring clarity. I was walking with a friend and sharing some things I was ‘doing’ in my walk with Jesus. I then clearly heard the Spirit speak to me, “The only thing I asked you to do is sit with Me.”

This may seem contradictory. The only He wants me to do is seemingly nothing! Yet this has been His ongoing invitation to me for years. When I take time each day to simply focus my heart on His presence, the rest falls into line. I am then drawn to prayer or other acts at various times throughout the day because I am conscious of Him with me and in me.

Let me wrap this up in an odd way by referencing a secular song. A line in an old Jackson Browne song Before the Deluge says, “Let creation reveal her secrets by and by.” As Jesus’ friends we can be privy to His secrets if we allow Him to reveal them in the ‘face to face’ place. After all, He has hidden things for us, not from us, let’s seek them out.

² It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter. Proverbs 25:2 (NKJV)

Servant or Friend?

Servant or friend? This is an important relational question. In John 15 Jesus made the following statement to the 11 after Judas had left.

¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. John 15:15 (NKJV)

There are two aspects to this verse. One is that friends know things that servants don’t, that is explicit. The implicit part is the difference in relationship. We do things WITH our friends; we do things FOR our master. That is the area I want to focus on. First, we look at some other scriptural references to being a friend of God.

⁷ Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever? 2 Chronicles 20:7 (NKJV)

⁸ “But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The descendants of Abraham My friend. Isaiah 41:8 (NKJV)

²³ And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. James 2:23 (NKJV)

¹¹ So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle. Exodus 33:11 (NKJV)

These references highlight Abraham and Moses as Yahweh’s friends. It is interesting that in Isaiah 41:8 we have the same pattern as John 15:15, servants and friends. Now, we may conclude that we need to be a special individual, great leader or an apostle to be friends of God. Not so.

Here we look at an important verse about being a friend of Yahwheh, starting with the NKJV then going to the ESV and the meaning of the word ‘secret.’

¹⁴ The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant. Psalm 25:14 (NKJV)

¹⁴ The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant. Psalm 25:14 (ESV)

The Hebrew word translated as ‘secret’ in the NKJV is translated as ‘friendship’ in the ESV. Now an obvious connection is the idea that we only share our secrets with our friends, so a closer look is in order.

The Hebrew sod is the source of our English secret and friendship, yet is also has a fuller range of meaning. We still need to keep in mind that words have objective denotative and subjective connotative meanings. That is, they have a basic meaning and a contextual meaning that clarifies intent.

סוֹד sod (691c); from an unused word; council, counsel:—circle(1), company(1), consultation(1), council(5), fellowship(1), friendship(1), gathering(1), intimate(1), plans(1), secret(2), secret counsel(3), secrets(2).^[1]

Thus, what we get from Psalm 25:14 is that Yahweh is a friend to those who fear Him and that He unveils or shares secrets with them and reveals the benefits of His covenant.

My friend Evelyn stepped from time into eternity a few years ago but a couple of decades ago I asked her how she understood the fear of the Lord. She replied, “Loving Him so much I would never do anything to offend Him.” That stuck with me! I need to love Jesus and seek to never offend Him by my words and actions. Then applying Psalm 25:14 to that means that He will be my friend and share things with me.

I confess that I still at times move back and forth between doing things out of a sense of duty, working for Jesus, and doing things with Him because I enjoy being with Him. The latter is much more fruitful and reinforces a sense of purpose and value. Which takes us back to where we began. Scripture teaches us that He wants friendship with us and we get to choose our level of relationship. After all, scripture clearly states the process and the benefit of the new covenant through which we can draw near to His heart.

¹⁸ For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, ¹⁹ for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. Hebrews 7:18–19 (NKJV)

Let’s embrace this ‘better hope’ and draw near to His heart in friendship and work with Jesus instead of for Him.

NOTE while writing this the term ‘The Face to Face Place’ came to me, that is what we will explore next week in understanding the furtherance of the friendship with Jesus.

^[1] Robert L. Thomas, New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries : Updated Edition (Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc., 1998).

Our Impact

Here I am going to address our impact on not just our culture but our environment. First, I need to lay out the concept of our impact and then connect it to scripture. Early in my career I was introduced to the idea of Systems Theory, more specifically Family Systems Theory, the way events and structures play out in a family setting. Later in some of my studies I came across the history of it and found pieces of it could be traced back to the early Greek thinkers of two millennia ago. The basic idea of Systems Theory is how different components interact and influence one another, whether that be family relationships or the parts of a car engine. My goal here is not a treatise on Systems Theory, rather it is to connect some dots.

A good example to illustrate Systems Theory is to imagine a mobile hanging over a child’s crib. The parts are all connected so that if one part moves it affects all of the other parts of the mobile. No part moves independently because they are all interconnected.

Now for a dot. I don’t know if you have ever considered our impact on our culture and weather. I think about it from time to time and will explain the connection. First, I remember decades ago listening to John Wimber speak and he referenced the sanctifying presence of godly individuals. He said in one county in California there was a deeply devout and godly man and you could feel the difference in the spiritual atmosphere when you crossed the county line to where he lived. This was different in a good way and Wimber attributed it to this man’s sanctifying influence in and on the area.

In scripture we see this concept, for good and bad. The first example is the fall, seeing that Adam and Eve’s sin affected all of creation. Paul expresses it this way in Romans.

¹² Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned Romans 5:12 (NKJV)

¹⁹ For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; ²¹ because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. ²² For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. ²³ Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. Romans 8:19–23 (NKJV)

Their sin, mor specifically Adam’s, affected not just their lives but the cosmos. We see the pattern in Yahweh’s dealings with Israel throughout the Old Testament. Sin brought judgment and destruction, godly behaviour brought blessing. Yahweh expressed it this way. Delineating a clear link between the behaviour of Israel and whether or not there would be blessing on the land.

¹³ When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, ¹⁴ if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:13–14 (NKJV)

We see the pattern expressed very succinctly 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)

³⁴ Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. Proverbs 14:34 (NKJV)

Seeing this pattern in scripture causes me to reflect on the impact we have on our communities, cultures and nation. This extends from our interactions with our neighbours to natural disasters. I think we need to weigh the impact and influence of our behaviour. Systems Theory is expressed in scripture in terms of impact, as scripture tells us that righteousness exalts and sin corrupts. Just like the effect of one part on all parts of a child’s mobile, there is no private behaviour. Sin and righteousness, private or public have a spiritual impact.

Given that, I pray that we are blessing our city, that our lifestyle of righteousness is affecting our neighbourhood and nation in a godly direction. I pray that through prayer and/or other actions that we moving to end things like abortion and corruption. Our calling is to be salt and light. Salt is a preservative and light drives back darkness. May we be both.

Now is the Time?

In the New Testament (NT) the most frequently quoted passage from the Old Testament (OT) is Psalm 110. It is a short Psalm about the rule and reign of the coming Messiah. Here are the first two verses.

¹ The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” ² The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies! Psalm 110:1–2 (NKJV)

The most famous Psalm in the world is the 23^rd Psalm. Here is a key verse related to our subject.

⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Psalm 23:5 (NKJV)

The command in Psalm 110 is to rule, referring to the Messiah, Jesus. The message of Psalm 23 is that in the very face of our enemies He prepares a table, a place of nourishment and sustenance for us. Here we will look at the sustaining and transforming role of worship. Which requires some background and a story.

At the end of June and beginning of July in 1995 I, along with my friend Wouter, attended an event in Whistler, British Columbia called The Gathering of the Nations. IT was in fact of gathering of people from many nations with the stated purpose of gathering to seek His face. I can still remember where I was in my basement on our acreage when I read the brochure for the conference. I was on a distribution list for a newsletter, back when these came via the post office! I had picked up the mail the previous day but hadn’t opened this iteration of the monthly newsletter. When I did there was a brochure promoting the Whistler conference. I read it and began weeping. I know, not a normal response. What led to my weeping was that the entire agenda of the conference was to focus on worship and seeking His face and discerning His voice. I knew I was to be there. I won’t go into all the details but, along with Wouter, I made it there.

Spiritually the conference was a very powerful and significant event. While there I found out that the only event actually scheduled was a presentation of Brian Doerksen’s new album and musical production Father’s House (I highly recommend it). For some reason it was never presented or referenced in any of the five days of meetings that took place three times per day.

You are likely now wondering about the significance. During the conference I spent some time chatting with Brian in a hot tub at the hotel we were staying at. He was genuine and open and never referenced his Father’s House project. I later found out that he had mortgaged his home to produce it and when released it was not a success. Fast forward to 1997 and Brian and his family had now moved to London England to help with leading worship and training worship leaders in the Vineyard in the UK.

With the many posts following his recent transition to Jesus’s presence I recently listened to an interview with Brian where he shared about the birth of a worship song after their move ot London. He stated that after their arrival he was at a low point in his life. He had lost everything financially trying to launch his Father’s House musical and was doubting his faith. As he was walking the streets of London one morning pondering and praying, he said he suddenly felt the Lord’s presence moving on him and through him like electricity and felt like he was being visited by the love of God. In this atmosphere he clearly heard the words, “Come, now is the time to worship.” It made no sense to him but he felt like it was an invitation to come and worship in his brokenness so he went home and began working on the song. He played it a couple of weeks later during worship and said that within weeks they heard of it being sung around the world before he even completed the final version or recorded it.

So, back to our verses. Brian was not in a good place when this invitation came. An invitation to embrace a table prepared for him in the midst of discouragement and a host of other negative emotions. What about you, have discouragement, hopelessness or failure become your companions? Are you struggling in some other area? Then I invite you, as I have done in difficult times, respond to the invitation, come, now is the time to worship.

brian doerksen come now is the time to worship youtube – Search

A Threefold Cord

The heading of course comes from Ecclesiastes.

¹² Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NKJV)

We will look at the implications and importance of a New Testament threefold cord in this hour, but first some context. To paraphrase Amos, I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet (Amos 7:14). However, I can discern the signs of the times. Historically revivals and awakenings have been preceded by very spiritually dry and dark times. We have been in such a season for some time. We have also had many people prophesying a major move of the Spirit for literally decades now. Are we heading into one? There have been encouraging signs, the Asbury revival/move of the Spirit in recent years being one. I don’t know if a move of the Spirit is imminent, I pray it is, however whether it happens in six months or six years our responsibility is to be ready. That I know. If we want to succeed in passing a the final test in a course we don’t open the textbook for the first time the night before the final exam. So, let’s look at an aspect of preparing for a move of the Spirit.

A regular part of my prayer life is a prayer for apostolic wisdom, prophetic understanding and teaching knowledge, a threefold cord. Let me explain the source and why it is likely important for you as well. Paul presented it this way.

²⁸ And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. 1 Corinthians 12:28 (NKJV)

You may have noticed my pairing of wisdom, understanding and knowledge with the apostolic, prophetic and teaching gifts. Whether or not we believe in these offices for the contemporary church, my prayer is for apostolic wisdom, prophetic understanding and teaching knowledge because of how Paul prioritizes them.

When it comes to the pairing of wisdom, understanding and knowledge, we see it in two places in Proverbs.

¹⁹ The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding He established the heavens; ²⁰ By His knowledge the depths were broken up, and clouds drop down the dew. Proverbs 3:19–20 (NKJV)

³ Through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; ⁴ By knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. Proverbs 24:3–4 (NKJV)

Wisdom is foundational to building, think of the church as His building, not ours. Understanding is necessary to further establish the church, a business undertaking or a marriage/family and knowledge is required to flesh out and sustain an undertaking, again whether it is the church (His people not a building), a business venture or a marriage. Note, these are illustrative not exhaustive and in referencing the need for apostolic wisdom, prophetic understanding and teaching knowledge I am primarily thinking of the church but to use another example, they are equally required for good government.

Let’s break the three down further. I have often said that wisdom is applied knowledge without including understanding. Understanding is comprehending the meaning of knowledge or information. Let’s use a practical illustration. Imagine standing in the middle of an intersection. A large truck is heading straight toward you. Knowledge is knowing or being aware that the truck is coming. Understanding is recognizing the implication, ‘if I don’t move, I will be run over.’ Wisdom, our applied knowledge, is moving.

Now let us use some wisdom and apply this to the church in terms of a move of the Spirit. The term waves or moves of the Spirit has often been used so we will use the wave analogy. If I discern and know that we are in a place of dryness, and have been for some time then I need to consider what that means. From the perspective of teaching, there is a need to recognize that this wave is going to have an impact. Our understanding points us to where the wave is heading to prophetically announce and declare it. Apostolic wisdom would be going to the place where the wave will arrive and gathering the body to meet it.

If we take this further, imagine the wave has arrived and much is taking place. Teaching knowledge would tell us that things have shifted in the spirit realm and will impact the church. Prophetic understanding would lead us to recognize the need to respond appropriately and apostolic wisdom would be both teaching and directing teachers what to teach and when.

These are some simple examples, and because I believe there is something coming, I want to exercise wisdom and seek His heart for what to study in this season of preparation. Thus, I will continue to pray for apostolic wisdom, prophetic understanding and teaching knowledge as I seek to find my place in what He is doing today. Please join me!

A closing interjection, while we may pray for a move of the Spirit, church history tells us that they are messy, often opposed by the established church and require significant adjustments on our part to follow His leading. Are we ready?

An Indwelling Christ?

Raise your hand if your life feels busy. As a retiree I find it a truism that it is hard to book time with a retired person because they are too busy! We are enculturated to do, not so much to be. In writing this I thought of a line from an old song, ‘Looking for love in all the wrong places.’ In my mind I refocused it to ‘looking for life in all the wrong places.’ Jesus said that for us He is the way, truth and life (John 14:6). Thus, we need to know how to encounter the life that He offers.

This leads me to wonder how aware are we of an indwelling Jesus. In our busy lives we need to experience Him as our source of peace because as Christians we are all called into an ongoing relationship with an indwelling Jesus. This is expressed in a number of places in scripture, some of which I have included below. We start with Ephesians 3.

¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, ¹⁶ that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, ¹⁷ that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – ¹⁹ to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. ²⁰ Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, Ephesians 3:14–20 (NKJV)

Here Paul expresses his desire for the believers in Ephesus. He wants them to;

be strengthened in their inner being,
experience Christ dwelling in their hearts through their faith in this reality, and
be rooted and grounded in love that they may know the fullness of His love.

This desire is also expressed by Paul in 2 Corinthians.

¹⁸ But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV)

⁶ For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6 (NKJV)

Included in 2 Corinthians is more of the how. Internal transformation and a deepened relationship come about through intentionally beholding Him because we encounter “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Practically if we put Ephesians 3 together with 2 Corinthians 3 and 4, we start by praying along with Paul that we would be strengthened in our inner being, then by faith we spend time just focusing the gaze of our heart upon Him. One way we can do this is through time alone in His presence. In the gospels Jesus demonstrated a habit of getting alone to seek His Father’s face. We can also train our hearts to behold Him as we go about our daily activities. Whether that is commuting, having a cup of tea or coffee or sitting in a meeting at work, a portion of our attention can be attuned to His presence. This may just be a subtle awareness but it is something we can train our heart to do if we have faith in what the scriptures say about His indwelling.

Is this easy? Not in my experience. Is it doable and fruitful? Yes, in my experience. I have succeeded at it to varying degrees over the years and am highlighting it again here because I think we are in a season where we need to better know both His heart and His voice. After all, Jesus is waiting for us to avail ourselves of His indwelling presence and purpose.

A song that expresses our desire to know an indwelling Christ is Eagles Wings by Hillsong. Enter into it.

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How’s Your Heart?

I have written about our hearts on more than one occasion, but due to the importance of the subject it is worth revisiting. After all, according to Paul it is the organ of faith.

¹⁰ For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:10 (NKJV)

Paul also noted that our faith is activated by hearing.

¹⁷ So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17 (NKJV)

Thus, what we hear affects our beliefs. Paul isn’t expressing a formula here; he is echoing what Jesus taught. After all, not everyone who heard Paul preach and teach responded with faith. However, his sharing of the gospel opened the door to an expression of faith. The importance of the heart in this process is why Solomon wrote the following.

²³ Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23 (NKJV)

Due to its importance in our lives we are all called to guard our hearts. The Hebrew word translated as ‘keep’ in the NKJV is translated as ‘watch’ or ‘guard’ in other versions. All three options carry the idea of being alert and paying attention to the condition of our hearts. Jesus pointed to our heart as our ‘vault of values’ our capacity to treasure things, either things of this life or the things of the Spirit.

²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21 (NKJV)

Which now leads us to the parable of the sower. It is found in Matthew 14, Mark 4 and Luke 8. In Mark 4:13 Jesus in essence said understanding the principle of sowing and reaping was foundational to understanding His other parables. Now we have the parable both given and explained by Jesus so there is no mystery. The seed is God’s word and the soil is the condition of our heart. Luke recorded it this way.

¹⁵ But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. Luke 8:15

Our fruit bearing capacity is tied to the exercise of patience and having a ‘noble and good heart.’

The obvious need is to understand what having a noble and good heart entails. If we look at how people responded to Jesus, we see Nicodemus coming with questions in John 3. He came with honest questions, a noble and good heart. In John 12 we see Mary coming and anointing Jesus with precious perfume and wiping His feet with her hair, a noble and good heart. In Luke 19 we see Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector, repenting of his sins in response to Jesus, a noble and good heart. The commonality among the three stories is a willingness to lay down their agendas and ideas and submit to Jesus’ presence.

For more specific instructions on how to develop and maintain a noble and good heart we have clear instructions in Proverbs 4.

²⁴ Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put perverse lips far from you. ²⁵ Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your eyelids look right before you. ²⁶ Ponder the path of your feet, And let all your ways be established. ²⁷ Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil. Proverbs 4:24–27 (NKJV)

Solomon tells us to walk in integrity, speak the truth, keep focused on the right things and pay attention to the general direction of our life and avoid evil. Given that, how’s your heart?