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Tom Vermillion » Blog
Revelation or Information?

There are several books that I like to read annually or, at least, review on a yearly basis because they have had such an impact on my thinking and, I hope, on my doing. One of those is Dutch Sheets’ classic book, Intercessory Prayer. I was scanning it again this evening, when a section once again caught my eye. I want to quote from his writing and then make a few of my own comments. It’s a little section on the difference between information and revelation and is worth thinking about.

 

“We need to understand – and I’m afraid most of us do not – the difference between information and revelation. Information is of the mind; biblical revelation, however, involves and affects the mind, but originates from the heart. Spiritual power is only released through revelation knowledge. The written word (graphe) must become the living word (logos). This is why even we believers must not just read but also abide or meditate in the Word, praying as the psalmist: “Open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things from Thy law” (Ps.119:18). The word “open,” galah, also means “unveil or uncover” – revelation. Information can come immediately but revelation is normally a process.

 

As the parable of the sower demonstrates, all biblical truth comes in seed form. Early in my walk with the Lord, I was frustrated because the wonderful truths I had heard from some outstanding teachers were not working for me. When I heard the teachings, they had seemed powerful to me. I left the meeting saying, “I will never be the same!” But a few weeks and months later, I was the same. As I complained to God and questioned the truth of what I had heard, the Lord spoke words to me that have radically changed my life: Son, all truth comes to you in seed form. It may be fruit in the person sharing it, but it is seed to you. Whether or not it bears fruit depends on what you do with it. “ (Dutch Sheets, Intercessory prayer, p.173).

 

The process of changing seed into fruit is all about cultivation and exercise. Many of us are full of biblical information. We quote what others have told us and, in a sense, live our Christian lives vicariously through them. When they talk about hearing from God, we feel as if we have heard from God through their experience although we have yet to hear from God personally. When they talk of supernatural moments, we revel in what God is doing out there somewhere, but we have never personally laid hands on a stranger we just met on the street and asked God to heal him. We rejoice in stories of what God is doing on the mission field, but we have yet to go there ourselves.

 

Information is rather one dimensional like ink on a page. However, it begins to take on additional dimensions when we begin to chew on it, ask questions about it, pray over it, fuss with God about it, imagine it happening in our own lives, and most importantly when we begin to actually act on it. As we do that, the Holy Spirit begins to reveal its reality to us and adds layers of meaning that we could never know apart from actually attempting what scripture calls us to do.

 

In his book, The Jesus I Never Knew, Philip Yancey summarizes the wilderness temptation of Jesus as a moment when Satan tempted Jesus with a shortcut. Satan told Jesus that he would give him all the kingdoms of the earth if he would only worship Satan. Jesus came to be king, and he could be a king without suffering on the cross if would only worship the devil. In effect, Satan offered Jesus a crown without the cross. But in the kingdom, we must all experience the cross before we get a crown. Revelation is the crown that comes after some hard work, long prayers, lots of questions, some frustration, and a bit of risky behavior. Too many believers live their Christian lives in the same way as a man might read a book on fly fishing, then start lecturing others on its merits and techniques without ever actually having put a line in the water. You really don’t know fly fishing or understand why you do certain things and avoid others until you have tangled your line in the bushes, lost a record rainbow because you tied a knot carelessly, or tried to cast a four ounce line into a 30 mph wind. The experience turns information into revelation.

 

The sacrificial and supernatural life of a believer was never meant to be lived vicariously through others. We are all meant to plunge into deep water, live with spiritual successes and failures, be content to live without all the answers, cry out to God when we get egg on our face, and become more determined to go deeper because we prayed for someone without effect and commanded a spirit that never budged.

 

As we stumble through the process, God’s seeds of truth become fruit that has substance, understanding, and deeper insights about God and life in Jesus. Importantly, that revelation has now come from our own hearts, rather than the heart of another. Jesus put it this way – we are to be doers of the word and not just hearers only. Hearers get information, doers get revelation. Jesus also said that if we keep his commandments (doing) he will come and show himself to us (revelation). So…when the revelation seems to dry up, we probably need to start living it out again (or for the first time) rather than living through others. Now quick, go do something spiritually risky! Blessings today in Him.

This is one of those “food for thought” blogs….something for you to consider. I was listening to a Bill Johnson sermon on YouTube a week or so ago, and he said something that resonated with me and that I have been mulling over since then. He said that whenever there is a prevailing spirit (demonic) over a people group, a city, or a nation, the church is either in active opposition to that spirit or is being influenced by that spirit. There is no middle ground.

 

I believe that is a true statement and, if it is true, there are a number of implications. First of all, there are certainly spirits assigned to nations, cultures, people groups, and individuals to promote evil there and oppose the works of God. In the Book of Daniel, we see demonic spirits referred to as the prince of Persia (Dan.10:13) and the prince of Greece (Dan.10:20). These were spirits of significant authority that were warring against Michael, the archangel, in order to hinder the work of God and to further the purposes of Satan in those nations. In the Book of Revelation, John wrote to the church at Pergamum and spoke of the city as a place where Satan had his throne (Rev.2:13), which speaks of a city over which Satan had great influence and spiritual authority.

 

In our own times, we clearly sense the influence of prevailing spirits in the Middle East that oppose Christ, his people, Israel, and life in genral. The unrelenting hatred and extremism of some groups there can only be understood by the influence of demonic spirits. When you look at Stalinist Russia, Nazi Germany and other places where millions died in concentration camps and mass graves, only a powerful demonic influence can account for such atrocities. We see the same level of influence now in Isis.

 

Even in America there are the prevailing spirits of Anti-Christ, anti-Semitism, sexual immorality, perversion, violence, and abortion that are having their way in our culture. The rapid acceleration of cultural decline in a once Christian nation is a clear indicator of demonic influence. For the past 50 years, most of the American church has been in passive opposition to these prevailing spirits rather than in active opposition. We have moaned about the decline of the church and our culture but have done so quietly over coffee or while cocooned in Sunday School classes. By and large, the result is that the church has been influenced by these spirits rather than these spirits being pushed back by the church.

 

How can any Christian church approve of abortion, active homosexuality, same-sex marriage, and the idea that Jesus is a Savior but not the only Savior? And yet many churches in America and many individual’s who identify themselves as Christians hold those cultural views. We have become toxically politically correct which is another way of saying that we don’t want to offend anyone by suggesting that they may be wrong or that their actions might be unacceptable. In that environment there can be no call to repentance. This political spirit is also a prevailing and highly manipulative spirit. Try running a household full of kids that way and see how well it goes. Running a nation that way has even greater repercussions. In recent decades, we have not shaped the culture but the culture has been busy shaping us. I believe it is because we have not actively opposed the prevailing spirits that have been and continue to influence America.

 

Lets transfer the principle from a national grid to a personal grid. Whatever prevailing spirits in our culture are doing to influence us individually, if we are not actively opposing them, then they are likely influencing us. Most believers are passive in much of their own spiritual lives. We hear cultural input day after day justifying and rationalizing unbiblical and ungodly values and lifestyles. We are likely to absorb the value only minutely day after day, but the accumulation effect impacts us as the months and years pass. Television and movies normalize sinful and perverse lifestyles so that we are no longer shocked or offended when we encounter those things. We hear proponents of abortion and same sex marriage offer their arguments day after day on talk shows and never hear a sermon or a teaching at church that pushes back against those arguments. Our kids hear those values promoted at school and see those who oppose them demonized. Unless we recognize the devil’s agenda and actively oppose those values in our minds, our prayers, and our actions, we will slowly be coopted into a mindset of excusing those behaviors or assigning them to moral gray areas.

 

We have often heard the maxim that if we are not growing spiritually we are actually loosing ground in the same way that if we stop exercising we don’t stay at the same level of fitness but rather lose strength and endurance. I know that to be true by personal experience. You probably do as well. In reflection, it might be a very good thing to begin to identify the prevailing spirits in our culture, our community, or our families and encourage our churches to actively oppose those spirits while we do the same in our personal lives.

 

I’m not speaking primarily of picketing, demonstrating, or writing blazing op-eds, although there may be times for that. But where there is a prevailing spirit of divorce in a family or community, the church should be actively providing ministries that strengthen marriages and families. Where teen suicide is on the rise, the church should be finding ways to connect with teens at risk and infusing hope into that segment of the community. If a spirit of poverty seems to prevail in a community or over a people group, the church might be working to provide pathways out of poverty for that group. Where abortion thrives, funding abortion alternatives, volunteering at Life Centers, and promoting adoption would be an active way to oppose those spirits. For every strategy of Satan, God has a powerful and creative answer. Doing similar things in our own lives would be helpful. Although spiritual warfare begins with massive amounts of prayer, spiritual warfare can have a very practical side that goes beyond prayer and deliverance and that takes territory back in whole communities.

 

Let me encourage you to consider what prevailing spirits might be having the most influence in your community, your church, or your life. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you discernment to identify those spirits, and then pray for creative ways to actively oppose those spirits in your own life and your community.   To take a passive approach might mean you are actually losing ground. Just….food for thought. Blessings today in Him.

 

There is a principle in spiritual warfare that we need to be reminded of from time to time. The principle states that whatever we come into agreement with, we empower. If we come into agreement with an idea, we empower it. For instance, suppose I wake up one morning with a few aching muscles, mention those aches to someone, and they say, “You must be coming down with the flu.” At that moment, I can think that aching muscles can come from many sources and the flu is highly unlikely or, at that moment, I can think that person could be right. After all, it is flu season. Some people at work have had the flu and now maybe I have it now. For the rest of the day, I will search my body for every symptom of the flu and obsess on every small indicator – imagined or real. I will feel fatigue just because I have been worrying all day and I will turn down offers to go out to eat with friends because I might be coming down with something. I have given the idea power over my life.

 

If I come into agreement with a spirit, I also give it authority in my life. Adam and Eve came into agreement with Satan and ended up forfeiting their rule over the earth. If a spirit comes along and whispers that my spouse is such a horrible person that I should get a divorce and go find someone who will give me the happiness I deserve, and I entertain that thought long enough, I will come into agreement with it. That will become my prevailing thought about my marriage. When that happens I give the enemy authority to establish a foothold in my life. The prophet Amos declared, “How can two walk together unless they are agreed?” The corollary is that when we agree, we walk together. We have formed some sort of alliance.

 

When our thinking and our words stand in opposition to the Word of the Lord, then what we are thinking or saying is a lie and that persistent lie invites the Father of Lies (Satan) into our life. Every demonic oppression begins in our flesh with our own choices about what to believe and speak when those things are opposed to God’s truth. If we persist, then we open up a door and the enemy can move in. Rotten thinking invites demons in the spiritual realm like rotten food invited flies. The enemy then amplifies the lie and distorts our perceptions so that those lies seem even more true.

 

Fairly often, we minister to people who have made a number of bad choices in their past. Maybe they were involved in drugs, stole things, had multiple sexual partners, were prostitutes, had abortions, and so forth. These men and women are often demonized and when we begin to minister deliverance we hit a roadblock. The roadblock is often their agreement with demons that they are beyond forgiveness. The inability to “forgive ourselves” is primarily unbelief in the encompassing grace of God. The unbelief empowers the enemy and gives a spirit the right to remain. When the spirit is not cast out, then the person is all the more convinced that he or she is beyond God’s love and forgiveness.

 

The most necessary conviction in spiritual warfare is that God’s word is true and every thing that disagrees with that word is a lie – regardless of how we feel. Lies are really the only weapon Satan has to use against us. It was true in the Garden. It is still true. When he whispers his lies, our first test should be the Word of God rather than whether or not that thought feels right. Any agreement with Satan constitutes unbelief at some level. That unbelief gets in the way of both deliverance and healing.

 

Too often, I find myself chasing spirits of rejection, condemnation, shame, self-loathing, etc. which all need to be expelled, but I sometimes forget to find out what the person truly believes about God’s love, grace, and forgiveness for him or her. If a spirit of unbelief or a lying spirit is operating, the person’s continued agreement with the enemy makes it very difficult to dislodge those spirits. Leading a person to repent of unbelief in the complete forgiveness they have in Christ and to renounce that unbelief is a simple thing but can be overlooked in ministering to people.

 

It might be worth asking some basic questions to begin, such as, “On a scale of 1-10, how much do you believe that every sin in your life is totally forgiven and forgotten?” “On a scale of 1-10, how much do you believe that God totally loves and accepts you?” “On a scale of one 1-10, how much do you truly believe that you are a beloved son or daughter of the King?”

 

Satan always wants to hide our identity from us and distort it so that we forget who we are in Christ. He wants us to believe that we are weak and sinful people despised by God rather than who we truly are in Christ. When we come into agreement with that distortion, we empower him and give him a place in our lives from which he can grow in influence. His power is taken away when we align ourselves with the Word of God because when we agree with God’s word, we empower it in our lives. Too many of us pay no attention to out thought life which is the in indicator of what we truly believe. We talk about what we think we should believe, while being ignorant of what we truly do believe. Since the Holy Spirit leads us into truth, a good exercise might be to ask Him to show us what we really believe about things so that we can maintain our alignment with the Father through frequent course corrections in our thought life. Whatever we agree with, we empower so lets be careful to agree with God.

 

 

 

I apologize for not getting any blogs out last week. My goal is to write two each week, but last week was consumed with the death of my wife’s mother. Her mother Rose was a great woman of God who touched her children and her grandchildren more deeply than any other woman I have known. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s several years ago and finally succumbed to its unrelenting attack on the mind and body. She died New Year’s Day in a nursing home in the Texas panhandle. The family was gathered in her room when she took her last breath.

 

I have been present at the moment of death on several occasions. Those moments are sobering moments that put life’s real issues into perspective. Maintaining perspective is the key to living life well. First of all, those moments confirm that the only truly essential thing in life is a real relationship with Jesus. We will all die this side of His second coming. Medicine and science keep teasing the world with notions of living forever with replacement parts, gene therapies, and cryogenics. It won’t happen. Death is part of the universal curse brought on by sin. It is as much spiritual as physical. Science can postpone but not beat the results of sin, only Jesus can.

 

When a person lies helplessly as death approaches, only two things bring comfort. The first is faith in Jesus and knowledge that when the heart stops life does not cease with it for those in Christ. Death can only end our existence in this form but eternal life in the presence of God goes on. We began our eternal life the moment we said yes to Jesus but it becomes most obvious after slipping out of this body that is not suited for heavenly environments. Paul said that to be absent from this body is to be with the Lord. We get glimpses of heaven in scripture but ultimately it will be more that we can ask or imagine on this side. As Rose slipped away, her family felt the loss but also rejoiced that she had been set free from the prison of a broken body and was experiencing life and joy to the full in his presence. They also knew they would see her again because they too are in Christ. There is great comfort in that knowledge. I have officiated funerals where that knowledge did not exist in some family members. For them, there was nothing to say but goodbye. Their only comfort could be found in their mistaken belief that nothing exists beyond the grave. To think anything else would be terrifying. But those who love Jesus are not terrified. They are expectant and long to be in the joyful presence of the King.

 

The second thing that truly matters at the moment of death is the legacy one leaves behind. The greatest legacy is love. Real love teaches others how to love. We can only give what we have first received. Jesus loved us and gave his life for us, not just to save us but to teach us how to love others as he did. In John 13, Jesus said, “A new commandment I give you. Love one another as I have loved you.” According to Paul in 1 Corinthians 13, no matter what we do in this life, if it is not motivated and supported by love it has no lasting value. At the end of that chapter, Paul simply tells us that the greatest thing in the kingdom of God is love. “Faith, hope and love remain. But the greatest of these is love.”

 

Love heals. Love unites. Love forgives. Love reconciles. Love puts others and the needs of others first. Love always acts in the best interest of others. Love affirms. It builds up. Love believes for the best in others to immerge. Satan hates love. It is the opposite of everything he stands for. Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy. Love gives life; gives rather than steals; and builds up rather than tearing down. When you stand in a room with a dying person, you tend to know whether he or she has sown love in their lives because of the response of those standing there. Those who love are loved by others because we reap what we sow and it is evident as a person prepares to exit this world.

 

No one says in their last moments that they wish they had worked more, accumulated more, been mentioned in one more article, manipulated one ore person for their personal gain, or set one more record. Those things seem important in life but not in death. In death, only faith and love expressed through compassion and service to others bring comfort because those are the things that connect us to Jesus.

 

The point is this. We should live with an eye toward death – not in a morbid sense but simply knowing that we will all be in that moment someday unless Jesus returns first. Knowing what is important at the moment of death tells us what should be important as we live out each day. As we minister to people for healing and deliverance we often talk about what increases our authority in heaven so that we can be more effective in our ministry. Jesus said that if we want to be great in the kingdom of heaven then we must be the servant of all. Service is an expression of love. Faith is certainly huge in the kingdom but Paul said that even if we have the faith to move mountains but don’t have love, that faith means nothing. I have come to believe that loving others with the heart of Jesus and serving others out of love is what gives a person real standing in the kingdom. That standing carries authority as well because the person who loves can be trusted with the things of the kingdom. Francis MacNutt, in his book Deliverance from Evil Spirits, talks about how much Satan hates love and that in deliverance sessions, a touch of true love, compassion, and concern for the person can sometimes dislodge a spirit when commands have not been effective.

 

As we move into 2017, I want more faith but I also want more love. Both are fruits of the Spirit that he must bear in us. I want a greater certainty in my life about every promise in the kingdom but I also want to grow in love. I don’t want to do good things or even right things simply out of duty but because I love those to whom I minister. That will be my consistent prayer this year. Standing at the foot of the bed as Rose took her last breath and exited for glory reminded me of those priorities and challenges me to make some adjustments. You may want to examine your priorities as well. Blessings in Him today!

When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots surrounded the city. ‘O my lord, what shall we do?’ the servant asked. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ the prophet answered. ‘Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ And Elisha prayed, ’O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.’ Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” 2 Kings 6:15-17

 

Few of us are ever aware of the provision and power that God offers us when we face impossible moments in our lives. I admit that I am one who often misses it as well.  I love the story of Elisha when he was surrounded by the army of Aram in the small town of Dothan. The king of Aram was at war with Israel. Each time he set an ambush for Israeli troops, Elisha would receive a word of knowledge from the Lord, warn the leaders of Israel, and the King of Aram’s plans would fail miserably. His initial thought was that a spy was leaking his battle plans to Israel but one of his officers convinced him that the Elisha was the one informing on the King when he said, “None of us my lord the king, but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom” (2 Kings 6:12).

 

The King immediately ordered a nationwide manhunt for the prophet who was to be found and captured. Word got back to the king that Elisha had been seen in Dothan in northern Samaria and so he commanded his army to surround the settlement. The verses above record Elisha’s servant’s response when he peered out from Dothan early in the morning. What he saw was an impossible situation for himself and his master. An army surrounded the small town. He probably assumed that the army of Aram was there to kill Elisha and most likely his servant as well. He saw no solutions and felt totally overwhelmed by his circumstances and the power of the enemy.

 

What we discover through the story is that the Lord had already responded to the need of Elisha and his servant with the power of heaven which was already poised to do battle on behalf of the man of God. The servant was terrified because he had no faith or experience to see what God had already made available in this impossible moment. Apparently, God left the fate of those soldiers in the hands of his prophet who could have called on the angelic army to destroy his enemies. Instead, he asked the Lord to strike the army blind for a season while he led them to Samaria where they were eventually released. After a demonstration of God’s power on behalf of his people, the text says, “So the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel’s territory” (2 Kings 6:23).

 

Here is the lesson. If God is for us, who can stand against us? God is never taken by surprise. When the King of Aram ordered the capture of Elisha, God had already provided for Elisha’s victory. The servant was overcome by fear. Given the chance he would have stolen away in night and hidden in the hills. Elisha, having faith in both the power and the character of God, stood without fear and saw the provision of God that others could not.

 

We will all face our impossible moments when no strength or resource of our own will provide the victory we need. Failing marriages, children bent on self-destruction, financial crisis, stage-four cancer, or the overwhelming loss of a loved one. We all come to moments when we feel as if we are surrounded by an overpowering force that we cannot stand against. In the moment, pray Elijah’s prayer for yourself, “O Lord, open my eyes that I might see! Lord, show me by faith and by your Spirit, the power and provision that you have already made available to me for this impossible moment. For with you nothing is impossible.”

 

In this upcoming year, many of us will face circumstances that, from the natural perspective, seem impossible. Our first inclination will be to feel the same panic that Elisha’s servant felt. Even if we remember this story, our first inclination may also be to think that God would send angels to rescue a great prophet but we are not great prophets.   In that moment, remember that you are a son or daughter of the King. You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. You live under a better covenant than Elisha and you have the Spirit of God living within you. Remember that “all angels are ministering spirits sent forth to serve those who will inherit salvation” (Heb.1:14) and you are an heir of salvation. More than that, God has said he will never leave you nor forsake you.

 

No matter the circumstance take heart because in the kingdom of God, those who are with us are always more than those who are with them. Graham Cooke often says that every crisis carries an opportunity to discover more of the goodness of God that is always there for us. No problem comes our way that does not already have a solution in heaven. Because our Heavenly Father is good, he is always willing to provide the answer. When the circumstance arises, don’t be afraid but ask the Lord to give you eyes of faith to see the provision that is already at hand. Blessings and faith in the year to come.

 

 

 

This morning I remembered a story my wife Susan had shared with me about a tribe in Africa that takes a unique approach to tribal discipline. When a tribe member breaks one of the tribal laws or social conventions, the assumption is that the individual is essentially good but broken. Instead of punishing the behaviors, they place the offending individual in the middle of the village and for two days, the rest of the tribe surrounds them and speaks positive things and good names over them.

 

The story didn’t report on the tribe’s assumptions about the benefits of the ritual but I’d like to speculate on a few possibilities. If they assume an evil spirit has corrupted the person, then perhaps they sense they can fight evil by speaking good over the person and in that way drive out the evil influence. They must believe their words have power. Perhaps, they believe the person has forgotten his or her essential goodness and so two days of declarations reminds them of who they are or “reboots” them to their default settings. Perhaps, all the positive things spoken over the offender are designed to call them to a higher standard of living. I have no idea if there has been any Christian influence in the tribe but there is something very biblical and very powerful about their approach.

 

Now, I am speaking about our tribe of believers only. Ours is the tribe marked by the presence of the Holy Spirit living in us. Mankind, in general, is not essentially good because mankind has a fallen nature. However, once an individual has been born again, has become a new creation, and has the Spirit of God within…he or she must be considered essentially good. God says that we are priests and kings, holy and sanctified, sons and daughters in the household of God, and partakers of the divine nature.

 

Within each of us is the goodness and greatness of God. This goodness and greatness is the reality that God has placed within us. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, but that fruit is a potential that needs to be called out, nurtured, and activated. James says something interesting in regard to this truth. He says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ja. 4:29). What is spoken to us and over us has a powerful affect on our identity or our self-image.   We usually live up to what we believe about ourselves and what is spoken to us year after year shapes those beliefs.

 

There is also a prophetic aspect to the things we speak over another person. In the book of Judges, Gideon is an Israelite hiding his harvest from Midianite raiders. As far as we know, he had no military training. Yet, the angel of the Lord greets him by saying, “The Lord is with you, Mighty Warrior” (Judges 6:12). Gideon was not yet a mighty warrior but the purposes of God for his life had been established from his conception and the angel was prophetically activating those purposes. The Apostle Paul instructs the church at Corinth that prophetic words spoken over believers should always strengthen, encourage, and comfort (1 Cor.14: 3). Those words begin to call out God’s purposes in us and activate the goodness and abilities that God has placed in us through his Spirit.

 

There are numerous other passages in the N.T. that have the same flavor. Nowhere do I see passages commanding the opposite. The gospel of the flesh and of hell would certainly contain commands and passages such as: Be ye critical and rejecting of one another. Be hateful and demeaning in all that you do. Be quick to point out failure and remind one another of those failures as often as you come together. Be careful to shame one another as if that will produce righteousness. Speak the truth one to another with great disdain and condescension. We could go on…but you get the drift.

 

However, the Holy Spirit spends a great deal of time telling us who we are in Christ. He goes to great lengths to describe our new identity as children of the Most High God. The writers of the New Testament speak that identity over the church throughout their letters. They usually begin their letters by acknowledging who they are in Christ. For instance: “To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints” (Rom. 1:7). “To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy…(1 Cor.1:2). “To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus” (Eph.1:1). There is purpose and intentionality in doing that. Most of these churches had flaws that needed to be corrected but the writers began by affirming their goodness in Christ.

 

Our identity, our holiness, our strength, our glory, and our victories have all been spoken by God and written down. His Spirit wants to put those words in our mouths. As we also declare the word of God given to us, his word once again goes forth. As it goes forth, it accomplishes its purpose. God calls us to be a tribe that surrounds those among us who are broken and declare good things over them. We are to call out who they are in Christ and the destiny he has ordained for them so that God’s word will accomplish its purpose in their lives.

 

As we speak honor to one another, encourage one another, and speak only words that build up, we help to establish the believer’s self-image – the internal view we hold of ourselves. We always live up to or down to that view. But more than that, we activate supernatural forces that draw those things out of us and make them realities. The words we speak that are God’s words are not only true but also prophetic in nature. As we, like Ezekiel, prophesy over the wasteland of someone’s brokenness, life will come forth. We should speak that same word of God over ourselves, as well, until we see God’s goodness and greatness fully formed in us.

 

James instructs us to be fountains of fresh water that constantly speak blessings rather than springs of salt water that kill living things by our negative words and evaluations. God calls us to speak life rather than death. That should begin with our spouses and children and then spread to all those we encounter. This doesn’t mean we cannot correct or point out fault but we do so with the conviction that those we are speaking to are valued by God and also have a positive destiny established by their creator. Our words can help them discover that destiny and fulfill God’s purposes in their lives. As we enter the New Year, may we all commit to speak only words that build up and impart life even when others are not as gracious.

 

 

 

 

I love Christmas. Even though it has been secularized and commercialized, beneath all the misplaced cultural debris, there is still a promise that calls out to the hearts of men. I believe it is the promise of peace, which is the secret longing of every person I know. I’m not talking primarily here about world peace, but rather about the peace in a man’s heart.

 

The prophet Isaiah spoke to this promise hundreds of years before Christ when Israel was in great turmoil and the future for that little nation seemed dark and foreboding. In the midst of that darkness he declared, “ Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this” (Isa.9:5-7).

 

On the night of Christ’s birth, the angels echoed this prophecy when they declared, “Peace on earth, good will towards men.” This little verse in Isaiah contains amazing revelations of God’s heart towards his people and a promised world to come. The revelations are much more easily seen this side of Christmas and the cross than they were then, but even then they were full of hope.

 

Of course, from the days of David, God had promised that an heir of King David would sit on David’s throne and rule the nation in righteousness. The promise had a condition. God would establish the throne of David as long as his descendant was faithful to the Lord by keeping all of his commandments. Many kings in Judah came to the throne, but one by one they failed to finish out their reigns in righteousness. As the years passed, the Jews began to long for the Messiah – an anointed one of God who would be the one promised. He would have to be a descendant of David from the tribe of Judah but he would be the chosen and righteous one about whom the prophets spoke. They, of course, saw him as the deliverer – another Moses who would deliver them from centuries of oppression by foreign nations. Because so many “promising” kings had failed to live up to the standards of the prophecy, some Rabbi’s began to suspect that a man of flesh and blood would never fit the bill so that a Son of God himself might have to enter the world and take his place on David’s throne.

 

This little section from Isaiah speaks of that Messiah. Interestingly, he would not descend from heaven in power and glory to take his throne – at least, not at his first coming. Instead, he would do the incomprehensible. He would become a child and enter the world through a Jewish virgin’s birth canal who grew up in the backwater province of Galilee. “Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isa.7:14). Immanuel means “God with us.” Again, we see these prophecies from this side of the manger, but for the Jews these bits and pieces of Messianic prophecies it must have been incredibly puzzling and hard to piece together much like the end-times prophecies we struggle to make sense of.

 

But here is what we do know. “To us a child is born. To us a son is given.” This child was a gift to men. Jesus did not come for his benefit, but only for ours. Jesus was not commanded nor compelled but came as a gift. John spoke of this when he said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son…” (Jn.3:16). The world was a dirty place then – full of sin, violence, idolatry, witchcraft, sexual perversions, wars, and power grabs. It was a world like today, only without the Internet. Yet, in spite of all that, God still gave us a son.

 

We are told immediately that God sent his son into the world to govern. Man had been given authority to govern the earth in the beginning but had quickly forfeited that rule to Satan. But now, God was promising to take back the rule of planet earth. The government would rest on this child who was also “God with us.” He would establish it, direct it, and sustain it by his power and righteousness.

 

This son given to us would eventually be known by many descriptive titles: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. For the Jews, trying to connect the dots between a child born of a woman being called Mighty God and Everlasting Father was problematic. They did not have the revelation of a triune God that we have and, even with that revelation we still struggle to get our minds around that concept. But the truth is that no man born in bondage to sin could fulfill that role. Jesus was born capable of sin but not in bondage to it because he was a product of the Holy Spirit rather than a sinful father. The everlasting descriptor gives us what the Jews of Isaiah’s day never had – the assurance that once this righteous king ascended the throne, he would never die and vacate his position to an ungodly predecessor who would call down God’s judgments on the nation once again.

 

A significant revelation is found in the nature of the kingdom. Notice that he was not described as a king who would come to crush the opposition and establish his throne with the blood of men. He came to establish his throne with his own blood and to love his enemies rather than annihilate them. His throne would be established by wise and wonderful council and, instead of being known as Jesus the Terrible, he would be known as the Prince of Peace. His goal was not to be war and conquest, but peace on earth. He came first to reconcile men to God and then to one another.

 

Christmas reminds us of that promise that is yet to come in its fullness. As we sense the best about Christmas – love, generosity, joy, reconciled relationships, surprises, etc. – we sense the character of the world to come when Christ will sit on David’s throne and rule with justice and righteousness forever. Think of a world without conflict, without natural disasters, without divorce, without death, without corruption, without cancer, without war, without slavery, and without shame. Think of a world where no hospitals are needed and where terrorism isn’t a word in the dictionary. That is the world to come and those peaceful, quiet, loving, and unselfish moments you sense or glimpse or hope for at Christmas time is the promise of things to come. The angels announced God’s intent – Peace on earth, good will towards men.

 

That promise still stands and God will fulfill that promise because he declared, “The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this!” Take the best of Christmas and it’s deepest ideas and know that those qualities are God’s ultimate desire for you and for all those who love him. It is just a taste of the good things to come.

I have had two conversations with dear friends in the past week who are struggling with the loss of loved ones.  The holidays magnify that loss. Both had prayed with faith for healing; both eventually lost a spouse to cancer. One loss is a few months old, the other lost his wife two years ago on Christmas Eve. Both had been married for decades.  Both had loving marriages. Now both are still grieving and can’t seem to get a vision for their lives beyond the loss. Both will have to walk out the process of grieving their loss and then moving on. That is not always easy. Those two conversations also reminded me of people I have known who had lost a spouse or a child years ago but who were still unable to get past that moment. For them it is as if life ended when their loved one died and will be on hold until they join that loved one in eternity. The loss of the life of the one still living doubles the tragedy of the one who died.

 

Loss is part of life.  Those who love us will lose us eventually unless Jesus returns in our lifetime. Some losses seem natural as when a 95 year old saint passes quietly in her sleep while others seem out of time and tragic.  When they do occur, we need direction from the Lord. I think an unexpected template for moving ahead after loss may be found in the Book of Joshua.

 

“After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people get ready to cross the Jordon River into the land I am about to give to them – to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot as I promised Moses…be strong and courageous because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them’” (Josh 1:1-3,6).

 

We need to try to grasp the impact of Moses’ death on the nation and on Joshua. Moses was the George Washington of Israel. He had confronted Pharaoh, led the people out of Egypt, and through the Red Sea. It was Moses who had gone up on Sinai in the face of darkness, rock-shattering thunder, and fire. It was Moses who had personally received the Law, directed the building of the tabernacle, and had stood between God and Israel on several occasions pleading their cause. It was Moses who stood face-to-face with God each day receiving directions for the people. And it was Moses who had led Israel to the banks of the Jordon River to take the land after forty years in the wilderness. Moses had truly been the Father of Israel, the mediator, the peacemaker, the prophet, and the one legitimate leader of this nation since its inception.

 

The loss of Moses must have been staggering. Who could have imagined entering the Promised Land without him? His entire life had been about leading God’s people into Canaan to take possession of the land God had promised to Abraham and his descendants. But at the last minute, God had told him he could not enter the promise land and shortly after that he had died on top of Mount Nebo with no human companion present. The Bible says that God buried him but no one knew where his final resting place was. Israel mourned for thirty days.

 

Joshua had been his aide and I’m sure Moses had been more than a father to him. I sense that Joshua never anticipated entering Canaan without Moses. Scripture tells us that Moses was 120 years old but “his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone” (Dt.34:7). God simply told him to climb Mt. Nebo one day and he died in the presence of God. The suddenness of his unexpected death must have made the transition more difficult. Suddenly, the mantle of leadership that had been on Moses for 40 years was thrust onto Joshua.

 

Moses was prohibited from entering the promised land because he had “rebelled” against the Lord in the desert. God had directly commanded Moses to speak to a rock from which he would provide water for Israel, but Moses, in anger, struck the rock with his staff. Water came forth from the rock but not in the way God had directed. God responded, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them” (Num.20:12). As the time approached for Israel to possess Canaan, Moses was taken from them since he could not enter with them. I have to say that my first to response to the consequence of Moses striking the rock seems extremely harsh and even unfair. After the faithfulness that Moses had shown in the midst of an unbelieving Israel for 40 years, it seems that God should have forgiven the moment and allowed Moses to enter the land to which he had guided the Hebrews.

 

Sometimes we make the mistake of looking at consequences in the natural realm as if they reflect our standing with God in the spiritual realm. Jesus says that to whom much is given, much is required. Leadership is judged more strictly than those who follow because leaders set the tone for those they lead. The issue (sin) that Israel had demonstrated for 40 years was the issue of rebellion, going their own way, and disregarding the word of the Lord. Unfortunately, in a moment of anger, Moses had done the same.

 

If there had been no consequence for the leader of the nation, the rest of the Israelites would have felt free to disregard the word of the Lord as well when it suited them. I know that Moses was forgiven still held in high regard by the Lord, because on the Mt. of Transfiguration, it was Moses and Elijah who were chosen to meet with Jesus. Trust and obedience would be the key to Israel’s ability to possess the land God had given them and so the consequence of disobedience had to be demonstrated. And yet, I still wonder, how Joshua felt about that as he was dealing with the loss of Moses and the challenges that lay ahead of him. Did the loss of his spiritual father, mentor, and hero challenge his view of the goodness of God? I don’t now, but these men and women of scripture were flesh and blood just as we are, not superheroes. They struggled with the same doubts and fears that we experience in the face of loss and disappointment. They too had to find a way to move ahead.

 

God’s pronouncement that Moses was dead in the first chapter of Joshua was not news to Joshua. Essentially, God was making the point that for Israel and for Joshua, one chapter had ended, while another chapter was beginning. A man once said, “Life is lived in chapters, and it is a wise man who knows what page he is on.” Moses had fulfilled his destiny, now it was time for Joshua to fulfill his.

 

Very often, we tie our own lives and futures so closely to another person that if we lose him or her, we feel as if our life has ended as well. But for those who still live, there is always more. Being willing to step into the other things that God still has for you is an expression of faith. It is also the way out of grief and sorrow. Certainly, there is a needed time to mourn. It is longer for some than for others. Israel and Joshua mourned for 30 days, but then it was time to step into the next chapter of life. The same is true for us.

 

To do so does not mean that the person you have lost was not loved or should not be honored. Many people refuse to go on with their lives or to rejoice in God’s blessings because they feel that to do so would somehow diminishe their love and their loss. You will continue to love and honor that person as Moses has been loved and honored for millennia, but God has more. Life is a gift and a stewardship that is ours to unwrap and live. God told Joshua that it was time to move on because there was still an inheritance to be claimed. In fact, moving ahead and claiming the inheritance was the very legacy Moses had left. There was still a path laid out for Joshua and Israel to follow and everywhere they set their feet, God would give that portion of their inheritance to them. The corollary is important. Wherever they did not set their feet, they would not receive what had already been provided by the Lord.

 

Our inheritance in the Lord is like a field that he has cleared, tilled, planted, and watered. It has come to fullness and he has given us the harvest…but we must go into the field and pick or glean what is there. It is all ours, but we only enjoy and benefit from that part that we take hold of…the part where we set our feet. After a loss or disappointment, there is still an inheritance that he wants us to go after. There is a time to close the chapter we have been living and move on to the next. Paul put it this way. “Forgetting those things are behind, I press forward.” This is not to say that we forget the people we have loved but we recognize that there is still more of the field to be harvested and to do less dishonors God. Moving ahead into Canaan and taking the land without Moses, still honored his vision and so honored him.

 

There are times when we must simply make a decision that it is time to move on and steward the rest of out lives. It is time to see what is written in the next chapter. It is time to grab hold of the destiny God still has for us. The same is true after a failure. Failure can stop us in our tracks just like a loss and we can stay stuck in a place of feeling disqualified for years. That is from Satan. David experienced a huge moral failure in his life – adultery and murder – but in Psalm 51, David prayed to God, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation …then I will teach transgressors your way and sinners will turn back to you.” David realized that his shame, his feelings of disqualification, and his own sense of guilt was robbing God of his service. He had already confessed and was already forgiven, but stepping back into a role of spiritual and political leadership was daunting. Somehow it seemed better to pine away with self-condemnation than to attempt to move ahead and fulfill his destiny. Yet moving ahead was the will of God for him. To do less was to give the enemy a victory and to rob God of the fruit that David’s life could still produce.

 

We will all experience loss, failure and disappointment in life. It is the fabric of a fallen world. The holidays seem to magnify all those feelings because Christmas calls us to an ideal and we live in the real. But whether it is loss or failure that has taken all the momentum out of your life, remember that God still has more for you. Don’t put it off too long. Honor God and you honor those you have lost. Move ahead in obedience and you redeem the failures in your past. This Christmas may you look forward to the chapters that lie ahead while you reflect on the chapters you are closing.

 

 

The cost of our redemption was steep on the front in not just at the cross.  It was steep for the Son of God who once sat on a throne of glory in heaven. He shrunk himself down to the size of an ovum and was born in a stable instead of a palace. When Jesus told a would be disciple that the Son of Man had no place to lay his head, he was echoing the circumstances of his birth as well as his public ministry.  Jesus could have descended in glory and lightening when he first came into the world but chose to totally identify with us so he came as a baby,  In doing so, he made himself incredibly vulnerable to the weaknesses, brokenness,  and violence of men. After eventually returning to Nazareth, he grew up subject to rumors that he was an illegitimate child, perhaps, born to Mary and some Roman soldier.

 

There was also a steep cost for Mary and Joseph and their families back home – their own loss of dreams and reputation, living among strangers for several years, wondering if Herod had anyone tracking them down, and wondering what their beloved families were experiencing back in Galilee.  It would be several years before Jesus ever knew his grandparents and the cost of those in the region of Bethlehem who lost their own sons to Herod was unbearable.

 

All this is to say that there was an extreme cost on the front end of the arrival of Messiah and well as on the far end at Golgotha. All this is to say that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit thought you were worth the cost. They still do. The great gift of Christmas is your restored relationship with your Father in heaven. Many of us, especially at Christmas time, live with the sorrow that our lives have not played out as we had hoped. We may feel let down, disappointed, or even abandoned by God. But God would not abandon what has cost him so much. He would not leave someone on the side of the road for whom heaven and earth suffered so greatly. You are not forgotten and you have not been devalued. The holidays often put our sense of loss or disappointment under a magnifying glass so that it seems much larger than at other times of the year.

 

As humans we have a propensity to focus on one thing that we believe would make us happy and then to make that the measure of God’s love for us. Maybe that one thing would be a relationship, a  breakthrough in your career,  a dream home or a “the perfect job.”  Maybe it was the healing of a loved one or the birth of a healthy child. That “one thing” can easily become an idol and an obsession if we are not careful which, in itself, keeps God from answering those prayers. The ultimate prize is always God and his love for us.When  we question that love we need to remember that God’s love for us was settled at the cross.

 

The key to happiness is not to focus on the one thing that God has not done for you so far or did not do five years ago,  but to focus on everything he has done for you and to give thanks for those things large and small. In every life and circumstance there are blessings both large and small. Each is evidence of God’s love and grace in your life. The apostle Paul declared, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation(Phil.4:11-12).

 

I believe the secret of contentment is first to have faith that God is good. Since “good” is who he is, he can be no other way toward you. He is very aware of what you are going through and is either using your struggle to perfect you for what lies ahead or is in the process of delivering you from that situation. Either way, there is reason to rejoice. To believe that God’s love rules out all hardship, loss, or battle in this life is to deny every story of faithful men and women in scripture who clearly had God’s stamp of approval on them but who also faced life in a fallen world inhabited by the enemy. God’s love does not create the absence of struggle but sees us through the struggle if our faith endures. Thanksgiving for every touch of God and for everything he has done helps to maintain the perspective that is needed in the dark places  of life.

 

This Christmas, whether you are on top of the mountain or in a valley, remember that you do matter in heaven. You were redeemed at great cost and are highly valued by your Father in Heaven. The Father has left many gifts for you “under the tree” and each has been carefully chosen. Rejoice in the ones he has already placed there as well as the ones he is carefully choosing for your future. Rejoice in his goodness and remember – peace on earth, good will toward men…and you.

 

 

 

 

 

This, of course, is the time of year when thoughts turn to Christmas. Our emotional response to Christmas can be complex and varied. For some it raises warm memories of traditional church plays filled with children, family, delicious food, and a warm house filled with love. For others it registers disappointment and memories of not-so-good Christmases stained by alcohol or emotionally toxic family members. For others it raises the grieving memory of making funeral plans for a loved one on Christmas Day and for others sheer loneliness as they sit in an empty house with no one present to share the day that should be about giving and receiving, loving and comforting, laughing and belonging.

 

As I have been thinking about Christmas this year, the Lord simply reminded me of how much our redemption cost. We tend to compartmentalize Christ’s sacrifice and suffering to Easter – his arrest, his abuse, his crucifixion. Passover and Easter certainly highlight the incredible cost of our salvation but it not only ended that way but also actually began that way.

 

Christmas cards sanitize the Christmas story so that it is almost unrecognizable. Susan and I have already received a few with Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus serenely surrounded by adoring animals in a pristine manger along with appropriately awed shepherds and joyous angels. There is some truth in all of that but it misses the point. The Christmas story begins with Gabriel appearing to Mary in the backwater town of Nazareth. Luke tells us that at his appearance, Mary was greatly troubled. The original Greek would amplify this word to mean confused and deeply troubled or distressed. The angel greeted her first but then added quickly, “Do not be afraid.” You don’t need to say that unless someone is visibly shaken and beginning to panic.

 

Gabriel then goes on to tell her that the Holy Spirit is about to fall on her, impregnate her, and she will have a son whom she is to name Jesus. He will be called the Son of the Most High and he will reign on David’s throne forever. That’s a lot to take in for a 13-year-old Jewish girl brought up simply, humbly, and traditionally. The true implications of what the angel had just said were probably not comprehensible…except the part where she would be pregnant without having gone through a wedding ceremony and without her marriage being consummated with her fiancé Joseph. Surely her first thoughts were about the impossibility of telling Joseph and her family and the almost certain unlikelihood that anyone would believe her.

 

The liability of being seen as an adulteress must also have loomed somewhere in the back of her mind. Adultery in those days was taken very seriously and was still punishable by death. In Jewish culture, her engagement was considered marriage although the sexual union could not occur until after the ceremony. To break the engagement required a divorce process. Apparently, her worst fears were realized when Joseph discovered she was pregnant and decided to divorce her quietly. Undoubtedly his heart was shattered by her perceived unfaithfulness and he carried as much shame in the tiny village of Nazareth as she did. Her story was unbelievable even to him until an angel confirmed what she had been telling everyone.

 

We are not told of the family’s reaction to Mary’s pregnancy and her unbelievable story, but Mary and Joseph’s trip to Bethlehem gives us some insight. According to Luke, Caesar issued a decree for taxation that required the head of each household to register in certain cities. Joseph was a descendent of David whose lineage came from Bethlehem, so off they went on a ninety-mile trek with Mary being very late in her pregnancy. She was not required to go to Bethlehem but went anyway on a trip that probably not only put her at risk but the child as well. To me the only explanation is that she was not particularly welcome in Nazareth even by her family and at the birth of her son there would no joyous occasion as she had always envisioned. She had also lost all of her dreams for a three-day wedding feast with her proud family and friends and the wedding night in which she and Joseph would consummate their holy union. So she went with her husband to a place in which they were apparently unknown to discover, on top of everything else, that no lodging was available.

 

A manger, a small barn or cave, was available where she would have to make do with some fresh hay while being surrounded by the smell of animal urine, feces, and barn rats. No family members travelled with them to help with the birth. Apparently, no midwife was available in Bethlehem. Joseph and Mary must have felt somewhat abandoned by God and family and must have felt very alone and even scared. They were probably wondering where the blessings were for their obedience because, day by day, things had not gotten better but worse.

 

Outside of Bethlehem, another disturbing scene was unfolding. In the middle of the night, shepherds, who were minding their own business, were suddenly confronted by angelic visitors. Luke simply says they were terrified. Of course, the angel said, “Do not be afraid” and eventually calmed their nerves with news that Messiah was being born to them and could be found in a stable in Bethlehem. Eventually that night, they found the stable and shared with Mary, who must have been exhausted, what had happened.

 

Another insight to the atmosphere of shame, gossip, and suspicion back in Nazareth was that Joseph, Mary, and Jesus did not return to Nazareth after the birth. As far as we know, two sets of Jewish grandparents had yet to see their grandson. Matthew tells us of the Magi, wise men or astrologers from the east, who had followed the Star of Bethlehem to find this newborn King of the Jews. This was apparently 18-24 months after the birth of Jesus. It looks as though Mary and Joseph had simply settled in there. These unexpected visitors from the east showed up unannounced and brought gifts of gold, myrrh, and frankincense to Jesus. Mary and Joseph must have been relieved to receive such a nest egg for the family and began to believe that peace and blessings were finally coming their way. Maybe he could expand his business or they could build a little home. But they immediately discovered that these were traveling expenses.

 

Herod, hearing from the Magi that a king was being born just seven miles from Bethlehem, determined to kill this threat to his own throne. Joseph and Mary were warned in a dream to flee the region and so suddenly became political refugees to Egypt. Herod, in order to secure his throne, simply had every male child in the vicinity killed that night – a night that became known in Jewish history as the Slaughter of the Innocents. So far the Christmas story is not just a story of angelic visitations and good news, but also a story of fear, shame, rejection, loneliness, the loss of dreams, and of a little refugee family fleeing their homeland for several years to live once again among strangers where Hebrews had once been slaves.