Tag: Spiritual wisdom

Last week I wrote about the need for cultural transformation. This week I want to focus on one aspect of how.

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)

The verse above focuses on cities; however, I believe it can also be applied to families, a small group, provinces and nations. After all, the verse is about how a the behaviour of individuals within a group of people causes the group to prosper or break down.

To have a better grasp of the concept it is important to look at the meaning of blessing. It refers to the idea of good or prosperity. Not prosperity in the sense of necessarily being rich in material things but prospering in what is right. Think of Matthew 6:33 where Jesus tells us that if we seek first God’s kingdom then all the other things we need will be added. This verse could be viewed as a commentary on Proverbs 11:11.   

            Given that, there are a couple of ways to look at the concept of blessing by the upright. One is the blessing they convey through their words; the other is the blessing they bring by their presence. Think of a time when you felt better simply being around someone. You had a sense that things were going to be okay. That is the blessing that a true shepherd brings to a congregation. The congregation is settled and at ease when a true shepherd is present, leading and functioning in their calling.

            The same is true of words. Think of John 6:67-68. Jesus shared some hard truths and many of the crowd left. Jesus then asked the disciples if they wanted to leave as well. Look at Peter’s response.

⁶⁸  But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” John 6:68 (NKJV)

Peter recognized the blessing in Jesus words, they carried life!

            Whether we consider our words or our behaviour, there is a ripple effect. Like a stone cast into a pond that sends out ever expanding ripples, our words and actions send out an expanding influence. Of course, the problem comes in when we are not a blessing but a detriment. I believe this extends not only to our public words and deeds, it also includes our private words and deeds. The spiritual realm is not like the visible realm, it has a window into our lives and we have an effect there that while unseen by many has a visible effect over time. In conclusion, if we want to see our culture transformed, we need to be what we want to see in our public and private lives and encourage the same in others. In this way all of the ripples have a reinforcing impact. All that we do is a point of demarcation between two kingdoms. Let’s focus on building His.

We will look at a verse in Jeremiah, the context, and how we can apply it to our lives today.

¹⁴ I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive. Jeremiah 29:14 (NKJV)

The phrase I am focusing on is the first six words, ‘I will be found by you.’ Through Jeremiah the Lord was speaking to the nation of Judah who were going into captivity in Babylon. After 70 years in captivity, they would begin to wholeheartedly seek the Lord and would encounter Him. This is the promise Daniel brought before the Lord in praying for the return to Jerusalem. That is our context.

Given that this verse what written for us rather than to us it is important to see how we apply it to our lives. In our present circumstances church attendance in Canada and the US has been on the decline for decades. During this period our culture has continued to head down the wrong road, and barring a revival or turning on a large scale, this slide will continue and likely accelerate. This is what was happening in Israel (Judah) prior to their deportation to Babylon.

Notice the statement again, ‘I will be found by you.’ Inherent in the statement is seeking. This is a principle in scripture. The Lord promises that when we genuinely seek Him we will find Him. In fact, that is what the preceding verse promises.

¹³ And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13 (NKJV)

Seeing the end from the beginning the Lord referenced this taking place even before Israel became a nation or had a king. While I think this prophetic word from Moses has a broader application than just the return from Babylon the principle and message are there. When we turn our hearts to Him our captivity is broken.

¹ “Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God drives you, ² and you return to the Lord your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, ³ that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you. Deuteronomy 30:1–3 (NKJV)

            Applying this to our lives and situation requires that we view our situation differently. The church is not a nation like Israel that has been scattered to be regathered. We are scattered among the nations to be salt and light. However, given the state of our culture our light is dim and our salt is presently ineffective. For that to change we need to wholeheartedly seek Him. Our desire needs to be knowing Him and having Him move through us to capture hearts and minds for His kingdom. Our goal must not be a better or nicer lifestyle, a more comfortable or friendlier culture. Our goal needs to be transformation into His image so that our culture will see Jesus.

The testimony of scripture is that people were drawn to Jesus. Some were threatened by Him but most wanted to hear Him and be near Him. May we be like that so that those around us want to be near us and hear us. Let us seek Him and find Him in a deeper corporate way that others may see Him.   Next week I will delve into the how of shifting culture.

For decades I have believed that Paul’s apostolic heart cry is summed up in Galatians 4:19.

¹⁹ My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you, Galatians 4:19 (NKJV)

This is what we are called and created for, the revealing of Jesus to us and then through us. It is clear that Jesus desire is to form Himself in us. However, He won’t do our part and we can’t do His part. If we read the rest of Galatians, it is clear that Paul’s rebuke of the Galatian Christians was that if Christ had already been formed in them it would be evident in their lives. The forming of Jesus in us is subsequent to our conversion and is a process, not an instant event.  

            The forming of Jesus comes about not through focusing on ourselves. The Lord knows that self absorption is one of the primary curses of our current culture. It comes from focusing on Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18). It is through focusing on Jesus and His word that we mature.

A number of years ago I was on a road trip with my supervisor and he shared the concept of Accommodation and Space. It has always stayed with me and is a concept we would do well to embrace in the church. He had learned it from a friend and colleague named Audrey. She was an Elder, Lawyer and Hereditary Chief from the Gitxsan nation in Northwest British Columbia, Canada. The English translation of the Gitxsan is “People of the River of Mist.” The Gitxsan have lived in community in their traditional territory since long before the nation of Canada existed as a political entity. Part of their belief system as a community and Indigenous nation was that Accommodation and Space needed to be held to create a psychological, physical and emotional atmosphere that would allow change to take place. That is, differences were accommodated and space was allowed for reflection and dialogue together.

Let us apply that concept to our relationship with Jesus. He is real, He desires to be personal. He invites us to accommodate Him in every area of our lives and to make space for Him. However, we all have a limited amount of emotional and psychological space in our lives. There is the expression ‘nature abhors a vacuum.’ It is similar to the expression, ‘the meeting fills the time allotted.’ Our lives fill up with tasks and commitments. I have long believed we need to organize our lives around our priorities, not seek to manage our time.

Thus, we need to consider whether we organize our lives around Jesus and His word or if He is an add on. Serving Him can be reflective of a deep relationship with Him or it can reflect our need to appear to be a certain way.

I recently read an account from a prophetic individual with an established international platform. Had you asked him if he was serving and living for Jesus two years ago, he would have replied in the affirmative. He was indeed a deeply passionate follower of Jesus who blessed countless lives. He publicly promoted a word with national significance that didn’t come to pass. Afterward Jesus showed him why he had been wrong and he publicly repented. He later acknowledged he went through a humbling trial because his focus had been wrong. He had been seeking to promote something other than Jesus and it had affected His ability to hear what the Spirit was saying.  

Given our psychological and emotional space is limited we need to consider not whether we are sincere but whether our focus is on Jesus.  After all, Jesus is formed in us as we accommodate and make space for Him. May He be our first love.  

Below is a song from the Helser’s new album that directly addresses this issue. Enjoy.

We Make Space by Melissa Helser

Next week I will look at how we can accommodate and make space for our fellow travelers on our journey to Christ likeness.

The verses below are a quote from Psalm 118:22-23.

¹⁰ Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. ¹¹ This was the Lord’s doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes’?” Mark 12:10–11 (NKJV)

In context Jesus was disputing with the priests, scribes and elders. He had just told the parable of the unjust stewards of the vineyard and informed them that they were going to lose it, the vineyard, in this case representing Israel. Then in His quotation of Psalm 118 Jesus was doing two things. He was pointing out something His challengers had missed, or at least missed the significance of in scripture, and He was letting them know they were wrong in their views.

Here we will look at the message inherent in construction and then apply it to discernment. In building the right stones needed to be selected to fit together. The cornerstone was foundational and every other stone need to be shaped to align with it. The leaders were charged with building and stewarding the nation of Israel and Jesus was pointing out that in their rejection of Him they were rejecting the very cornerstone they needed to build upon.

There is a discernment principle here. When we consider why they would reject the very one they were waiting for the answer is obvious. They had expectations, rules and a checklist. Jesus didn’t tick the right boxes. When they looked at Jesus, they saw not a cornerstone but a stone that didn’t into what they wanted to build. It never occurred to them that what they wanted to build wasn’t what Yahweh was building. After all, they knew and determined what was right.

This pattern is repeated over and over in the gospels. It isn’t always about rejection; it is always about how we see and what we expect. In John 4, the woman at the well and the disciples both initially missed what Jesus was pointing to because their minds and hearts were directed elsewhere. Jesus had to shift their focus.  

Often our current views blind us to new views. We are unable to see the new because we are fixated on the old. In the season we have been in for the last two years we hear from many a desire to return to normal. I think if that is our vision, we are missing the point of this season. We need to seek His heart and discern where He wants us to go from here. How do we do church in a way that community and relationships are strong for the next thing that comes? Covid exposed fault lines within culture and within the church. We need to learn from this and consider whether we have been building on the right things. Has Jesus been the cornerstone the last two years? Have we built our church communities around Jesus? If not, how do we shift in a way that sincere believers on both sides of our current divides will have a bridge to cross over and remain?

This verse, specifically the first phrase, has carried great significance for me for many years.

³³ Wisdom rests in the heart of him who has understanding, But what is in the heart of fools is made known. Proverbs 14:33 (NKJV)

The significance lies in the fact that when I think of wisdom I think of Jesus. 1 Corinthians 1:30 says that Jesus is wisdom to us from God. Thus, when I consider the idea of wisdom resting within me I think of Jesus resting in my heart. There is however a qualifier, it says that wisdom/Jesus rests in the heart of those with understanding. Which means there is a need to look at what understanding means.

The Hebrew word translated as understanding is bin and refers to discerning or carefully considering. It could be translated as ‘Wisdom rests in the heart of him who has discernment/is discerning’ and we know from Hebrews 5:13-14 that wisdom is the fruit of maturity.

We have the word in understanding context in the verse and then the broader context of Proverbs. We also have a contrast in this proverb with wisdom resting in the heart of the wise, in a sense hidden, waiting to be revealed at the right time, while what is in the heart of the fool is exposed. In Proverbs the word ‘fool’ refers not to one who lacks intelligence, rather it refers to one who does not seek and honour God.

A clear implication here is that the wise and mature have less to say than the fools. The wise and discerning weigh their words carefully. We live in a time when civility has greatly decreased, in particular in online discourse. What is needed in this hour is wisdom; wisdom coming from the hearts of those who take the time to listen, weigh and consider before speaking, those who have Jesus resting in their hearts. In this hour we need not bombast and hype – we need wise words that point the way.  

Knowing that the understanding or discerning create a place for Jesus to rest in their hearts and then speak when He is speaking or prompting from within, we need to do two things. We need to practice restraint if we are not already doing so. We then need to discern and speak what Jesus is speaking into the lives and circumstances of those around. After all Jesus pointed us to the fruit of wisdom, let us heed Him.

³⁵ “But wisdom is justified by all her children.” Luke 7:35 NKJV

In the last two years the world has battled the power of Covid. We as the church have also engaged in this battle, though our battle is both with Covid and the spiritual power behind it. There have been conflicting perspectives on it, failed prophecies on when it will end and on and on. Many of us have prayed and not yet received the answer or outcome that we sought and so we live with the certainty of uncertainty, and for many of us a sense of growing weary in the battle.

So, we will take a look at what we are battling against. In scripture horns represent power. In the Old and New Testaments, we see it in both a positive and negative light.

¹ And Hannah prayed and said: “My heart rejoices in the LORD; My horn is exalted in the LORD. I smile at my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation.” 1 Samuel 2:1 (NKJV)

¹⁰ But my horn You have exalted like a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil. Psalm 92:10 (NKJV)

⁸ I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words. ⁹ “I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire; ¹⁰ A fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened. ¹¹ “I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. Daniel 7:8-11 (NKJV)

⁶ And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Revelation 5:6 (NKJV)

¹¹ Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. ¹² And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. Revelation 13:11-12 (NKJV)

In the passages where we see a horn or horns representing power. Yet the power of the enemy is always defeated by the authority and power of the Lord. No matter how long it takes or what we have to face we can be confident in something Jesus said.

¹⁹ Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.Luke 10:19 (NKJV)

We also see the extent of Jesus authority in The Great Commission.

¹⁸ And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)

Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth and He has delegated us to exercise His authority in the earth. To do so we must be actively engaged in the battle that we are all in and the battle is first fought in the realm of prayer. We not have seen the things we would like to see in the last two years. In spite of what we have not seen our response needs to be one of continuing to look to Him. A response of repenting of anything that He has put His finger on in our lives (2 Chronicles 7:14) and coming before His throne seeking His face. The world needs to see a testimony of a church that reflects the Jesus of scripture not the Jesus of our culture. There are pockets of this so let us press in for more and obey what Jesus said.

⁷ “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8 (NKJV)

Jesus never told us to pray once, never to pray until we are tired, never to pray when we feel good. He told us to pray until the answer comes. In fact, the Amplified Bible captures the Greek tense in the above verses and says to ‘…keep on asking…keep on seeking…keep on knocking.’

What we are facing looks intimidating. We need to face it with confidence in the authority that we carry. When we look at scripture and history we see these strong horns, these horns of power rising up again and again but ultimately always bowing to the authority of the King of kings and
Lord of lords. We are also assured in Revelation that this will continue until consummated in the final outcome!

So, as this year ends and we step into the coming year let us continue to battle to overcome the power of the enemy, persisting in prayer, seeking His wisdom and exercising His delegated authority. Let our lives be an emphatic yes to Jesus’ question, “when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).

I generally listen to worship music. However, I also like some artists from my past. Two who I admire for their lyrical skills are Jackson Browne and Dan Fogelberg. Recently Spotify created a playlist for me so I decided to listen to it while I working out in my basement. While I was listening to an old Jackson Browne song that I was not familiar with (Something Fine) a line in the song caught my attention, “The future hides in the past.” Being intrigued by the phrase I looked up the lyrics, which actually say, “The future hides and the past just slides.” Not at all what I heard.

Be that as it may, what I heard in the phrase highlights one way the Holy Spirit speaks to me. He will often highlight a phrase someone says and give it a different emphasis or twist, or while hearing the actual words I will hear something slightly different that holds spiritual significance. When this happens, I have learned that what I hear points to something He wants me to focus on. In reflecting on ‘The Future Hides in the Past’ I was drawn to a truth of scripture. In 1 Corinthians 10 Paul tells us that the things in the past were written for our example – the future hides in the past.

¹¹ Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 1 Corinthians 10:11 (NKJV)

While Paul’s was providing a warning to learn from, he was also pointing to a pattern we can see unveiled in the scriptures. In the Old Testament when Israel was faithful in following Yahweh, they experienced blessing and favour. When they went astray, they experienced calamity. There is a parallel truism in the helping professions, ‘The best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour.’ Again, for good or bad.

Paul expressed the same sentiment in different language.

¹¹ This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. ¹² If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. ¹³ If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself. 2 Timothy 2:11-13 (NKJV)

The basic point – He is faithful. We can trust Him. Anytime we incline our hearts toward Him we encounter His heart

In this coming year, whatever you face, I challenge you to look back. Looking back, not upon errors or failures, looking back upon your history of His faithfulness. When we have truly depended upon and looked to Him, we know He has always been faithful. In your history of His faithfulness, see what is to come, ‘the future hides in the past.’

In scripture there is an interesting shift in the location of the Altar of Incense from how it is presented in Exodus 30 to Hebrews 9. We begin with a little information from scripture showing what the Altar of Incense represents.

“So it was, that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense.” (Luke 1:8–10, NKJV)

“Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” (Revelation 5:8, NKJV)

Here we see that the incense ascending from the altar represents prayer. Zechariah and the other priests took their turns each day offering incense on the Altar of Incense which was positioned before the curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies so that the incense wafted into the Holy of Holies to the Mercy Seat on the Ark of the Covenant. This design is seen in the Tabernacle of Moses in the wilderness. The furniture of the Tabernacle and the design of the priestly garments are described in Exodus 25-30. The placing of the Altar of Incense is in Exodus 30:1-5. We also have clear descriptions of the placement of everything in the tabernacle in Exodus 40 when the tabernacle was first set up.

This now leads us to Hebrews 9.

“Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;” (Hebrews 9:1–4, NKJV)

The phrase ‘golden censor’ here refers to the Altar of Incense and that is how it is translated in some bible versions. So, we have the author of Hebrews writing something that isn’t true, bear with me here. If you read Hebrews 11:8-11, the hall of faith chapter, you will find what is written there doesn’t appear to be true either. It says Abraham ‘obeyed’ and Sarah had ‘faith.’ In fact, if you read the accounts in Genesis, you have a different story. Abraham was told to leave his father’s house and go to Canaan, instead he went halfway with his father, then after he died continued on with Lot. Sarah laughed and didn’t believe the Lord when told she would conceive in her old age. I think we reconcile these differing accounts by recognizing that in Hebrews we are being given heaven’s perspective. The focus is not on the failures of Abraham and Sarah but the fruit of their obedience. Failure is ignored in heaven’s assessment.

Thus, back to Hebrews 9. From heaven’s perspective the Altar of Incense was moved into the Holy of Holies before the Mercy Seat because of what it represented. Understanding this requires looking at what the furniture in the Tabernacle of Moses represented. The Holy Place with the Lampstand, Table of Showbread and Altar of Incense represents our soul – our mind, will and emotions. The mind is the lampstand which receives light and illumination. The showbread with the ground flour represents a submitted and prepared will. The altar our emotions, from which prayer is to arise. The Holy of Holies speaks of our spirit, the innermost hidden place where His presence is designed to dwell.

This brings us to the implications of the Altar of Incense being in the Holy of Holies. In Romans 10:10 Paul said it is with our heart that we believe. Prior to that he said the following.

“Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.” (Romans 10:1, NKJV)

As I see it the transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament is the transition from prayer arising from our soul to prayer arising and flowing forth from our reborn spirit. While that may not always be our practice, I think it is the scriptural design. Prayer was never meant to be an intellectual exercise; it is to arise from our passions and desires. Our heart is to be engaged.

I remember one time reading the story of a newly married pastor where he shared his journey into fruitful prayer. He said he was faithful to get up and pray an hour each morning. One day his new bride said, “Why don’t you record your prayer tomorrow?” He naturally wanted to know why. She said, “Well then you can just play the tape and you don’t have to get up so early every morning because you always recite the same thing.” While hurting his pride her question and comment also changed his prayer life, which is why he shared the story. Similarly, Charles Finney, a great man of prayer, said that if we can’t remember what we prayed about just after we prayed it wasn’t really prayer.

In conclusion, our prayers are to arise from our heart desires and the message of Hebrew 9:4 is that they are to arise from our being in His presence, not our seeking to arrive there. Let’s develop the habit of presenting our petitions from where we already are rather than from where we would like to be (Ephesians 1:3, Colossians 3:1-3).