HONORING THE CALL - Audio Link
This devotional follows on the previous devotional called, “No Greater Love”. Whereas that devotional was about seeing, this devotional is about sending. The next will be about serving.
In Daniel 5 we have the account of King Belshazzar that made a great
feast to a thousand of his lords and drank wine, even from the golden and
silver vessels taken out of the temple of Jerusalem. The King sees a finger appear to write words
on the wall and all bravado left the man.
He called on all his soothsayers and “wise men” to interpret the
writings, but alas, to no avail. This
until the Queen steps up to reassure him that there was indeed someone within
the palace walls who could help him with the interpretation.
Let’s read the foundational text for this devotional.
DANIEL 5: 10 – 12; 23 - 28
10 Now
the queen by reason of the words of the king and his lords came into the
banquet house: and the queen spake and said, O king, live forever: let not thy
thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed:
11 There
is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the
days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the
gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I
say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and
soothsayers;
12 Forasmuch
as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of
dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in
the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called,
and he will shew the interpretation.
Daniel answers the King by
reminding him of what Nebuchadnezzar’s fate was and gives the following interpretation
in verse 22.
22 And thou his son, O
Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;
23 But hast lifted up thyself
against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house
before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk
wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass,
iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose
hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:
24 Then was the part of the
hand sent from him; and this writing was written.
25 And this is the writing
that was written, Mene, Mene, Tekel,
Upharsin.
26 This is the interpretation
of the thing: Mene; God hath
numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
27 Tekel; Thou art weighed in the
balances, and art found wanting.
28 Peres; Thy kingdom is divided,
and given to the Medes and Persians.
Daniel and some other choice men from Israel
were taken into Babylonian captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar, and were taught
many things as young men. They were
there specifically to be in service of the King. It is speculated that they were eunuchs as
well. All of their lives were devoted to
study and knowledge. However, Daniel
stood out above the rest and was known for having an excellent spirit. And, because of this excellent spirit, he had knowledge and
understanding, he had spiritual gifts of which were interpreting of dreams, also
having the ability to figure out riddles, parables or difficult sayings that others
were not able to decipher. And lastly, dissolving
of doubts. In other words, he was the
“go to guy”. Words that are associated with the word “excellent”
in the Bible according to the different Strong’s meanings in scripture are:
Excel, remnant, General, vigor, strongest,
honorable, dignity, noble, dominion, might, power, glorious and many more.
In a nutshell it means to excel, which means
better or greater, but it also speaks of dominion, nobility and honor. In other words, always a standard higher than
the rest. Not just in knowledge and strength,
but in stature.
HEBREWS 12: 1
Wherefore
seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us
lay aside every WEIGHT, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us
run with patience the race that is set before us,
It stands
to reason that if we had to have a scale before us, whichever side goes up,
constitutes the side that is light, whereas the other is heavier. Hebrews 12 says that we are to lay aside
every weight. Paul was saying this in
the context of running a race, but I want to take liberty in using it to help
us understand from the perspective of the words written on the wall. “Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found
wanting.” If I am
found to be light in weight, it means that a standard was set and that I do not
measure up. Therefore, adjustments need
to be made.
We are
all aware of those areas the Holy Spirit has put His finger on and has told us,
“You have been found wanting.” Usually
this is in the privacy of our own homes and not in public display. At home we let down our guard as we have no
desire to impress. There we relax and
can just be. And because of this, we
often find ourselves struggling with small things that should by now have been
a thing of the past. This is nothing
other but compromise and sadly we model this to our children and spouse. We do not expect much of our children, sadly
not even schools do, and so neither do they of themselves. And because we do not, they will give us exactly
what we expect of them. The other day I
walked into my teenage daughter’s room and it was just food everywhere. One would think this to be a typical teenager
“syndrome” and many of us joke about this, as if it in itself does not testify
of what they think of our standard, or for that matter, of themselves. Not so funny when you take time to think of
the implication of seemingly small matters like these. Come to think of it, what does your room or
cupboards look like? Because therein is only
one of the standards we set in these every day “compromises”. Small and seemingly insignificant things that
we just let slide. And it is not limited
to a cupboard. We teach people how to
treat us, but we also teach others what is expected of them. I told my daughter that she cannot live like
a pig, simply because she is not a pig.
It is beneath her and that she should have self-respect, as well as respect
towards us. We all know the saying
“Cleanliness is close to Godliness”. But
truth be told, it is more about the heart.
It is always about the heart. This
devotional is not about cleanliness, but cultivating an excellent spirit in all
we do.
I was led by the Holy Spirit to watch a movie
called Coach Carter, which also happens to be a true story. This coach came to a school where only 3% of
the children were expected to pass. The bar was therefore set very low. The only thing that gave them meaning to
their lives, was basketball. Coach Carter made them sign a contract before
they could be on his team. The standard
was set. Ties and jackets at games and
they had to sit in front of every class. Which would already be a great
challenge for them, seeing that they did not pitch up in the first place. Needless to say, he required not only that
they would pass their subjects, but also obtain a certain average that was
higher than what the school itself required. They also had to do community work
and add to society. And of course, they
had to be on time for practice or the whole team would be punished. It took them a while to get comfortable with
these requirements, but once they did, the team started to win their games. At one stage, after many wins, their reports
came back and their lack of discipline and commitment towards their school work
was evident. They were weighed and found
wanting. They were heavy on the side of
winning basketball games, but light on their academics. Most of them failed horribly and therefore
were held accountable as per the contract they signed. The result was that all practice and games
were off the table until they passed.
This went so far as to bring Coach Carter before the board where every
parent wanted him to be fired or leave. Even
the parents did not value the character he was building in their children. He told the team, as well as the parents,
that by opening the gym for practice and the games would be in fact lowering
the standard and set an example that they do not have to keep their commitments
and live up to that which is required. He
told the children that unlike the school and society, he believed in them and
that they are indeed able to do far more than the standard set. Society have already decided that they are
drop outs and that according to statistics, only one out of six would go to
college and that the rest would go to jail.
These were their odds. The
players got it, because the Coach, by keeping a high standard himself, have won
their respect. He promised them that he
would fight for them to get into college and that they did not have to be like
their deadbeat dads in jail, but could make a future for themselves. There was one particular boy who had a typical
rebellious and arrogant attitude, but later decided to join and was willing to
do whatever it takes to become part of the team. He had to catch up though and prove himself
to the Coach. But during this time,
Coach Carter asked him a question repeatedly, “What is your deepest fear?” He just ignored him, because he could not
truly answer that question until only later.
It was when they were in the gym, not to play basketball, but to study
that this boy got up and made the following statement, which touched me
deeply. It is the truth. Granted, these are not saved people, but we
can definitely relate. This is what he
said…
“Our deepest fear is not
that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear
is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. Playing small does not serve the world. There
is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people will not feel
insecure around us. We were all meant to
shine as children do. It is not just in
some of us, it is in everyone. And as we
let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others the permission to do the
same, as we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically
liberates others.”
Change that light to be
the divine presence of God in our mortal bodies and we have the heart of our
fear, which is the responsibility that comes with such great power that is
beyond measure. The Spirit of God in
earthen vessels. Subconsciously we do not want to know the depths of it,
because it scares the living daylights out of us. It confronts us with the reality of where we
are presently, as opposed to where we ought to be if we were truly honoring the
call. It confronts us with our unbelief.
Not just with who He is in us, but
whether we truly trust Him to do exactly what He said He will do. And yet, as we step into that which is true,
embrace it with all our being, that light of the world, as He says we are, will
start to liberate our sisters and brothers, because they know our God is not
partial. It will liberate them to know
that with faith nothing is impossible and that a higher standard to that which
they have lived, is not only possible, but also required. The faith that sees that which is. That sees ourselves as those chosen to be sent
out and used mightily by Him. It is an
enormous responsibility and requires to live by the exhortation that was given
to Joshua, “Be bold and courageous”.
1 PETER 2: 9
9 But
ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar
people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of
darkness into his marvelous light;
I have
come to realize that we often live beneath what the Lord God intended, because
we do not in fact believe in truth that we really are what He says. He calls us priests, prophets and kings. He tells us we have authority and that we are
set apart for Him. And yet, we do not
live up to the standard of our call. We
do not honor our call by our daily walk.
In fact, the standard by which we live, testifies of whether we truly
believe what He says we are. We walk as
mere men.
One
expects a certain standard from a priest, or a prophet and a king. Certain things are just beneath their office. This is an area that the Lord God had to
deal with in my life, having received word upon word, just like others,
regarding His plans that He has for me in the time to come. Can any of this be, unless I believe? A while back I had an experience where I woke
up from an afternoon nap. Half of my mouth was so hot, almost burning
hot. As I woke, I saw a vision of my
mouth, where one part was this red, hot color, almost on fire and the other
half iced. He showed me that to not
truly believe what He says about me, is to have guile on my lips (Psalm 34). I may be able to confess it to a thousand people,
but that the standard that I live is testifying of what is true. The standard He was referring to was not that
of sin, but of having an excellent spirit. Every part of my being, every cell and thought
has to believe what He says about me and will be evident in my daily life. I praise Him for doing that work in me. How can He send us if we hope, but do not
truly believe?
To have
an excellent spirit is in essence to have a spirit without guile. If I set the bar low, I will live up only to
that bar, and even lower, but never higher, because I can get by and so can
others. But what if I set the bar higher
to that which is expected of a priest, prophet or king? A priest immediately has the connotation of
being set apart and holy unto the Lord.
Therefore, there is no liberty to defile oneself with what you watch or
do. Meaning, trivialities are not just
trivialities. They do make a
difference. Certain things we watch,
though not sinful, are beneath a priest.
The same counts for a prophet.
You do not get to say what you want or listen to what you want. You are jealous for the pure and undefiled
word of the Lord to be spoken through you, not willing to defile it by what you
expose yourself to. Meaning you have set
standards for yourself in every area of your life. Others may have the luxury to watch certain
things, eat what they want, make little jokes, or fool around, having no weight
to their conversation, but you are not afforded this disposition. These things are beneath the standard of
priest, prophet and king, just like it is beneath us to live like pigs. We dishonor our call by how we live.
You are set apart to be His mouthpiece, so
that what comes out of your mouth has weight to it. It bears with it the weight of God, the ‘chabod’. As for a King, he is friends with those
closest to him, but cannot be “buddy, buddy” with everybody. He has those closest to him with whom he
confides in and has the responsibility to carry himself in such a way that
exudes authority and demands respect.
Not because he is unloving or better than others or too high and mighty
to deal with the small and little things of life. Rather, he dearly loves all around him, but
has the very hard job to do, which is to rule and reign. Daniel was given that privilege at the end,
because of the excellent spirit he operated in.
He did not have to tell everybody about it and let everybody know that
God has chosen him. Everybody was
testifying of it, because of the life he lived.
Therefore, there is no need to tell everybody of every experience you
have had, or to justify any actions by handing out proof that you in fact have
been chosen by God and that what you have said is from God. God will confirm His own word and does not
need you to do so. This speaks of being
unsure of our call when we do this. The
office we are called to requires a certain standard and disposition, which is
an excellent spirit. This is the Spirit of God operating in that person who has
not decided on his own standard, but has embraced the standard of the Lord. He does not look at himself as a mere man,
but truly knows that he has been chosen and sent by the Most High. He strives and lives daily to live up to the
standard of his call and honors his call.
This is an uncompromising spirit in him that do not cut the corners even
in the smallest of things. Not to be
seen, but that even when nobody sees, he is living that standard, because it
has become his mode of being. This does
not come overnight, but what is needed is a level of esteem for what you have
been called to in utmost humility and meekness.
This excellent spirit is seen in everything he touches.
So, when the whole Christian crowd do something,
your closest brothers and sisters, you do not go with them. Not because you think you are better than
them, but something about the spirit of their doing, which does not constitute
that excellent spirit, makes you uncomfortable and you cannot find yourself at
peace. Not that they are doing anything
wrong, but somehow this is not your disposition and to give in to that, even
though it may be lawful or not sinful, even Christian and enjoyable, is to
lower your own standard, which is that of an excellent spirit. This has nothing to do with being obsessive
compulsive about doing things in perfection or that you cannot have any fun in
life, but speaks of the Spirit of God having full play in the one called. Everything is governed by this excellent
spirit, that sees all in the light of what the Spirit of the Lord is
about. Everything is under scrutiny,
because the man is wholy set apart.
Nothing is done halfhearted or in mediocracy. If something is not up to standard, it is
addressed. Being secular or spiritual
makes absolutely no difference. Whether
in speech, writing, attitude or doing something, everything is done with a
spirit of excellence. And this can only
come because of the work of the Spirit of God in that person, which did not
happen overnight or because this person sets unusually high standards to prove
himself. No, this is a natural outflow
of the spirit of excellence within that man, which was cultivated and brought
into maturity through trials and testing.
There is a sense of the responsibility that comes with stewardship over
the body, soul and spirit that has to be governed by the Spirit of God and the
Spirit of God, governing through him.
1 Corinthians 10: 31 says that whether we eat
or drink, or WHATEVER we do, do ALL for the glory of God. Even how you eat matters to God. Always eating in a hurry constitutes a
different spirit. Can you imagine Yeshua
gulping down some fish and bread when He fed the thousands? Afterall, He had a lot of responsibilities,
right? Small things we are to take note
of, because they do in fact say a lot more than what we think. Yeshua was never in a hurry, not even to
raise the dead. Being overweight is not
okay. The word “okay” in fact, is a
slang word that constitute a sense of compromise. It is a yes, but one that says it is
permissible or allowed. Are you jealous
over your words and their true meaning and how do you think the Most High feels
about “words”? In Romans 12 we read of
the good, acceptable and perfect will of God.
Three standards are stated here, which should cause us to ask ourselves
whether in our everyday life we are in fact living in the good will and not the
perfect will of God? All our doing is to
be done in His perfect will. Needless to
say, that only the Spirit of God in us can do this through us. Is it possible that just maybe our low
standard of what we expect of ourselves, has in fact frustrated the purposes of
God? Because truth be told, we do not
want to pay the price or put the time into it.
It seems so controlling. The
issue of the body is also the issue of the Spirit of God. Equally, the issue your soul and spirit, is
the issue of the Spirit of God.
I’m reminded of a prophet who lived beneath
the standard of God, Eli. He was grossly
overweight because of the way he indulged in the offerings that was his due and
paid a dear price for this compromise in his life. The example he set for his sons, Hophni and
Phineas, who served as priests, was the standard they themselves lived up to,
and was consequently killed. They did
not honor the office of their father, because clearly, he did not have an
excellent spirit within him and did not honor the office he was called to as
well. If God is anything, He is holy,
and the word holy is connected to the word “whole”, which is that of being
total. Are we total in all our
categories? Do we foster an excellent
spirit or is our standard of that which is portrayed in the classroom? “Sir, how much do I need to pass this paper? What
is the least that I have to do?” How
total are we towards God in all we do?
Our credibility is affected by the visible evidence of our indulgence,
whether that be our eating, speaking, what we watch, write or post, especially
in our own households before our loved ones.
Who our friends are, what we laugh at, the jokes we make ourselves, even
jokes made at inappropriate times. All of our life is under His watchful eyes
and as His eye roams to and fro over this earth, He is seeking those whose
hearts are perfect towards Him. But are
we jealous for this and do we understand that this is the requirement?
Because unless we understand that without this
totality towards the Lord in our call and daily, mundane lives, often
constituted as a non-event or not important at all, He cannot send us. It is in fact the training ground for being
total towards Him when He calls upon us to do that which was required of Samuel
the prophet. Samuel had an excellent
spirit within him. Not just when he was
called upon to act or prophecy, but the whole of the man was under the control
of the Spirit of God. When called upon
the Lord God to not spare families, he slew with his own sword husband, wife,
children and animals. He also did not
hesitate to tell Israel to do the same.
He was instant in his obedience. Nothing
was left outside of the boundaries of judgment when he was called to point the
finger of God. And who is sufficient for
these things unless he is total towards the Lord? For this is the call in the time to come for
those who are truly sent. To set a
standard and hold people accountable, knowing the fear of God, we persuade man. Because it is unto this man the promise comes
that not one of his words will fall to the ground. Samuel honored God’s word through a life of
utter obedience in totality, and because of this, when the word of judgment
came, he was able to perform it, having been himself subject to the judgment of
the Word of God in his life, in every category.
His words therefore did not only have weight, but it was demonstrated in
the power of the Spirit of God. The same
can be said of Daniel.
The Church is an Apostolic and Prophetic
entity within the last day’s analysis.
She has the responsibility to live up to the standard she proclaims and
can only do so in authority by living in authenticity. The purpose of the sent one is to make an apostolic
and prophetic declaration, which not only has a judgment with it, but also the
call to repentance. What makes the difference
between the many prophets out there that have made numerous prophetic judgments
is not that the word is necessarily not true, but that it lacks power and the
sense of God. For when the word comes,
it will pierce. This is the very dynamic
and power of the Word, which is to pierce between bone and marrow, the motives
and intents of the heart and to divide soul and spirit. How much clearer can it be? When the word comes, you will know, because
it will expose the truth of your true condition and there will be no place to
hide. It will be an uncompromised word,
because the speaker is uncompromised.
Nothing less than an excellent spirit is required. Daniel expressed
God’s judgment over Nebuchadnezzar, which though Nebuchadnezzar declares
Daniel’s God as the God to be served, he was still subjected to the judgment,
which was that he himself became like a beast.
That is to say that he was stripped of everything and in doing so the
Lord God confronted the man with who he is without God…a beast. What does this say of Daniel who had to
deliver the word? Can any prophet speak
a word in which he himself has not allowed the Lord God to judge himself
first? Would his word be true if it came
without this prior judgment on himself?
The answer is yes. However, you
can be sure that the Lord God will hold him accountable for every word spoken
idly, meaning that the word is not true in the speaker himself. Not many should be teachers or claim to be
oracles of God. When the Spirit of God
rests upon the speaker it is to first deal with him so that when he speaks,
there is weight and authenticity that rings true down to every syllable. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of
Truth. This reality is expressed in the
excellent spirit that rested upon Yeshua.
One has to understand that the speaker is not
the sum of his words, but the sum of his life.
His life, which was worked into him by bringing the man down into dust,
having been raised by God, being held accountable to a standard worthy of his
call, is the standard that is set before the people. His very life, without even saying a word, is
a judgment on those who live beneath the standard of God. And they hate him for it. Because truth be told, if he was brought to
this place being a man like them, what excuse do they have when they stand
before God? It is not about who is right
or wrong, but the issue remains the standard of a heavenly kingdom come down. A
value system, two wisdoms in contention of two very different kingdoms. And this is the war that will be fought in
this last age…the wisdoms of two Kingdoms.
His life then is the statement of his words in authenticity that calls
those who hear him to be confronted with their own standard of living, values
and compromise. They cannot run, knowing
that their standard does in fact not constitute that which is from above.
Do not see this only as occasional mishaps or
pet sins, but rather in the context of a disposition lacking in your Christian
walk, for which you will be held accountable.
This is about you setting the standard verses Him who has already set
the standard through His Son, the Patterned Son. Eternally judged for living beneath the
standard of God, which can only be possible for us, unless we are total in all
our categories, with a disposition of complete dependence. He calls us to an obedience that we cannot
perform out of our own humanity. Until we see this gospel demonstrated in His
sons and daughters, setting the bar, the standard in its rightful place and
keeping one another accountable, we will be nothing else but “lightweights”
with grandiose words having no power to change and confront lives. We will sound impressive, even prophetic, but
will lack the power to turn the world upside down. All of creation is waiting on the
manifestation of the sons and daughters of God!
This standard, even for those who are Christians, is an offense, because
we rather want to call the shots and lean heavily upon the doctrine of grace,
forgetting that grace in itself is the ability to do the will of God. We prefer to live as if there will be no
requirement made of us to live up to the reality of being the sons and daughters
of God, His workers that will be sent.
How can we call Him Lord, when in fact we still cut the corners and
compromise? If He is not Lord of all, He
is in fact, not Lord at all.
We are to heed a very important warning from
Yeshua made in the 12th Chapter of Luke concerning those servants whom the
master of the house will return to, to judge their true disposition. This whole chapter is devoted to the workers,
whom He calls friends. This word friend
is also linked to John 15 that is about the 144 000 that will also be
released in this time. In verse 1 He
tells them, “Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is
hypocrisy.” There are many people who
have been shown and are very excited about the fact that they will be working
for the Lord in the coming harvest, but possibly have not counted the
seriousness of the call in the light of His judgments and have not honored that
call in how they live. Note that there
are three watches. Different servants
for different watches.
LUKE 12: 36 – 48
36 And
ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from
the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him
immediately.
37 Blessed
are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I
say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat,
and will come forth and serve them.
38 And
if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them
so, blessed are those servants.
39 And
this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would
come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken
through.
40 Be
ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think
not.
41 Then
Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all?
42 And the Lord said, Who then is that
faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make RULER over his household,
to give them their portion of meat in due season?
43 Blessed
is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
44 Of a
truth I say unto you, that he will make him RULER over all that he hath.
45 But
and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall
begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be
drunken;
46 The
lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an
hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his
portion with the unbelievers. (Clearly the servants are believers)
47 And
that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did
according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
48 But
he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with
few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required:
and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
And verse 58 – 59
58 When
thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give
diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him; lest he hale thee to the
judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee
into prison.
59 I
tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last
mite.
Who do you suppose the adversary is and who do
you think the judge? He is still talking
about the servants. Not unbelievers, but
servants. Those who have much, much is
required. Very sobering indeed. This is a scripture to take very seriously in
our preparation to be His workers in the time to come. We have to count the cost.
Therefore, Paul could say,
“Follow me as I follow Christ”. It is
one of the boldest statements made in scripture, and yet, to us the standard is
set. Paul was in the same relationship
with the Father as Yeshua was in His body.
Which is complete and utter totality and dependence. This union with God only comes by a complete
separation unto God in all categories.
There is an investment from God in the man, as well as the man in
God. Not works, but a life laid down.
Life and death
hangs in the balance of preaching the TRUE gospel. Yeshua proclaims in Luke 4 that he was
anointed to preach. How shall they call
upon Him of whom they have not heard, and how shall they hear except one preach? And how shall one preach except he be sent? This is the call of the Church, particularly
to the Jew. And will they hear if that
preaching is anything less than authentic?
Him, whom He sends, to him the Spirit is given without measure. We are called to be bearers of His word and
truly there is a famine of the word of God.
Even amongst a plethora of teachings and videos, there yet remains a
famine.
1 CORINTHIANS
1: 18 – 21
18 For the preaching of the
cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the
power of God.
19 For it is written, I
will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the
understanding of the prudent.
20 Where is the wise? where
is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish
the wisdom of this world?
21 For after that in the
wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
The word of God
is an event. That which is preached from
one sent, anointed to preach, will be an event that penetrates the hardest of
hearts whether that heart comes from an abusive background and practices of wickedness,
or from a religious and traditional stronghold that has come through
generations. His word will either bring
you on your face by your own choice, or it will bring you on your face in
judgment. The word preached is for that
express purpose which is to call us to a standard to which we are held
accountable, both the speaker and the hearer.
It is an event despite resistance, not to willing hearers, but resistant
hearers whose hearts are hardened and the demonic forces that have manipulated
the strings all along. They will only recognize authenticity. Satan must have nothing in us. This word, which is the event, is the power
of the cross.
1
THESSALONIANS 2:13
For this
cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of
God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is
in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that
believe.
When those who are sent
speak, it will be an event because the speaking comes not from the wisdom of
men through eloquent speaking or reasoning, but through the wisdom of God. In meekness, but also in the demonstration of
the power of God. The reality is that
when it is a word of God it will change, it will penetrate and will not be just
another cliché that you have heard over and over. No, the spirit of the speaking is that of the
Spirit of God and will ultimately confront with reality. Ultimately the hearer has to believe in order
to affect this change in him.
Unless there is absolutely
no doubt, the speaker’s words will simply fall to the ground, however true they
may be. He has the responsibility to be
that which he speaks. The spirit of
prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. His
speaking comes because of what has transpired before the speaking, which is in
the place of hiddenness. Lest we think
that this is only with regard to God’s dealings with a prophet, we need to
understand that those at the end of the age will be sent out, those apostles,
will have to be able to speak a word that is a sent word, an event and it will
be from above. This can only be from a
place of authenticity, in his marriage, his children, work, habits and every
area of his life. Through and through
the same standard is maintained by a spirit of excellence.
The question is, how can
we be sent without upholding the standard of the speaking? How can He send us, when our lives are still
unbalanced and in truth, we are still lightweights? When we do not truly honor the call? Does it not stand to reason that if we are
going to hold others accountable to a standard, that we ourselves have to
embody that standard? This excellent
spirit is something to strive after and a willingness from us to set everything
aside that keeps us from this reality.
Word received from the
Lord….
HOW CAN TWO
WALK TOGETHER UNLESS THEY AGREE?
When I have
your tongue, I have you. Once you can
confess with a mouth that is not hot or cold, one that knows assuredly without
any doubt what I have called you to, and you accept and embrace it with your
whole being, it is then that I can send you.
If any part
in you still does not buy into what I have prepared for you and you doubt, I
cannot send you or use you as I intended and purposed. Your lips must be without guile before I can
send you. This is not merely a
confession, but from out of the heart one speaks, and so the issue of your lips
is the issue of your heart. I alone
search the hearts of men and know it through and through. I try the hearts of men to see if they are
true and whether they are without guile.
How can two
walk together unless they agree? And
yet, you need to walk not only with Me, but walk in the knowing that we are
one. My nature in you, expressed by what
you will do.
For it is
not just what you will do that will express My glory and who I am, but who you
are in yourself…one with Me.
How can two
walk together unless they agree? There
can be no guile on your lips and in your walk.
Called to walk vitally united to My Spirit in all you do. This requires a spirit that is without
guile. Be zealous therefore to root out
all guile, all that which will hinder you from running this race and fulfilling
My purpose, lest you be disqualified and bring shame upon yourself.
A little
leaven, leavens the whole lump. Humble
yourself therefore, search your heart and I will lift you up and use you.
Then I will
send you.
