“In Proverbs 4:20-22 we have the most comprehensive instructions as to how to receive healing:

Attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

The Word of God cannot be health to either soul or body before it is heard, received, and attended to. Notice here that the Words of God are life only to those that “find” them. If you want to receive life and healing from God, take time to find the words of Scripture that promise these results.”(F.F. Bosworth, Christ the Healer, Revell, 9^th Edition, p.19).

In this quote from Bosworth’s classic book, Christ the Healer, a primary principle for finding faith for any promise is laid out. It begins with our commitment to the truth of God’s word. Do I believe that the Bible is inspired and that the word and promises of God are true? Most Christians would say they believe but my experience tells me that most of us believe it in principle not in practice. Most of us either believe that the Word is true for others but usually not for ourselves or we believe the word is true except in cases where the straight-forward promises of God are affected by extenuating circumstances – and they are nearly always affected by extenuating circumstances.

We assume that to be the case because we pray and don’t immediately see the results we anticipated and so we calculate that some unknown quirk in heaven kept God from answering our prayer. We assume that for reasons far beyond our understanding it was not God’s will to answer our prayer for healing or a myriad of other things we prayed for even though we have a clear promise in scripture that what we prayed for is something God always wants to do. So we begin to tack on a disclaimer to each prayer which is usually something like, “If it be your will.”That disclaimer immediately reveals that we doubt God’s will for the thing we have been praying about. In the context of healing, that phrase reveals our doubts about God’s real commitment to heal those who ask.

Until we are convinced that it is always God’s heart to heal – especially those who are God’s covenant children through Christ – then we will always pray with a kind of fleshly hope that has little expectation attached (I know this from personal experience). So then, if we want to grow in the gift of healing, we need to spend quality time in the Word looking at the scriptures that demonstrate and declare God’s willingness to heal. We need to live with those scripture until we are convinced that the Word of God clearly declares that truth. In truth, I am as lazy as the next guy so what I really want is for some amazing healer to lay hands on me, impart the gift and the faith, and leave nothing more for me than to head to the nearest rehab clinic and get everyone healed and released in a few hours.

But … would I value the gift, know the Word, and would I have struggled through my questions to find solid rock on which to stand when the winds of doubt begin to blow later?   I find myself wanting God to heal through me to create my faith rather than my faith prompting heaven to heal. I think God is willing to do both but I need to pay the price of prayer, study, and argument to establish the truth in my heart that God is always willing and able to heal because his Word says so. Any prayer standing on less than that assurance is going to tend toward double-mindedness and James tells us that a double-minded person who prays will receive little of what he or she prays for.

To say that God always desires to heal is not the same as saying that healing will always occur. Our free will and fallen nature get in the way of many things that God desires on the earth including healing. But we must start with the conviction that God is willing or we can’t ask in faith. Then if healing doesn’t occur we can begin to look for roadblocks to that healing and by the revelation and wisdom of the Spirit can begin to remove those blocks so that God’s will can be done and his will is healing. So if you are uncertain as to the heart of God in the matter of healing find his promises in the Bible, fix your eyes on those promises, meditate on them, and listen to people who have faith regarding healing not to those who doubt. That is a practical beginning for experiencing life and health in this world and the world to come.

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.           Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer. Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this. (2 Tim.2:2-7)

In his second letter to Timothy, Paul is alone and writing from a Roman prison. He assumes that his time of execution is near and so what he shares with his young protégé in the faith are essentials and, perhaps, his most important final declarations. The Holy Spirit called Timothy to a significant role of leadership in the church and yet it appears that Timothy didn’t see the greatness in himself that Paul or the Spirit saw. He often hesitated as a leader and, as a young man, seemed to avoid confrontation even at times when it was needed. As a result, Paul attempted to encourage Timothy to step up and fulfill the call that was on his life. Many of us struggle with the same hesitancy when it comes to fulfilling our destiny in Christ so, perhaps, Paul’ words might be helpful for us as well.

First of all, in his letter Paul reminded Timothy to be strong in Christ’s grace. Grace is God’s enabling power to fulfill the life he has assigned to us. Strength does not come because we have it all together. If we did, we wouldn’t need strength from God because we would possess it ourselves. Grace is given because we lack some quality or capacity and are desperate to receive it from God so we should ask for it often and expect to experience God’s strength in the moment of need or battle. As you scan the exploits of the Old Testament heroes of faith you see that strength came on them when they were already engaged in battle rather than before. They began with their strength but ended with God’s. We will need to accept the challenge God has given us before he will equip us for it. By faith and God’s grace he will strengthen us as we begin to move in the calling he has placed on our lives.

Secondly, Paul charged Timothy to entrust to others what he had learned so that they would also entrust the truths of the kingdom to others. Leadership is not just about doing something yourself but about equipping God’s people to take the baton, run the next leg of the race, and then pass it to another. Historically, great moves of God have died out after one generation because leaders did not equip the next generation or pass the torch to them. Sometimes leaders do not pass on their skills and experience to others or help others succeed because they enjoy being “the man” or because they actually fear their students will surpass them. The Spirit, however, is like a river that flows to us and then desires to flow through us. When we are conduits for the kingdom, more strength and capacity will be given to us.

Paul went on to adjust Timothy’s expectations for leadership. It will not always be easy, convenient, or popular. There will be times of hardship that require endurance. No leader in biblical history had a cakewalk. Each of them endured danger, risk, opposition, soul searching, betrayal, and attacks from the enemy. To expect less is to give up at the first sign of hardship. We are in a war. We have been dropped into enemy territory and must fight our way out. Soldiers expect hardship, cold nights, hunger, and even wounds. It goes with the territory. We will experience the same hardships from time to time.   In addition, we must maintain our focus. If we allow ourselves to be distracted from our primary mission we will fail. Satan loves to spread God’s leaders thin. He loves for us to get involved in more and more good things so that we loose focus and impact for our primary mission. Paul warns us to keep an eye on our primary mission.

As a sports fan, Paul suddenly draws another analogy – the runner. In order to win a runner must wait on the starting gun, stay in his own lane, and cross the finish line. He can’t compete by his own rules but must compete according to the rules of the Master of the Games. Too often leaders try to succeed in their mission by using worldly principles rather than kingdom principles. Worldly principles are shortcuts and draw the applause of men. Kingdom leaders can’t take shortcuts and must seek the applause of God rather than men.

Finally, Paul reminds Timothy that he must work hard, understand that there is a gap between planting and harvesting, but also remember that God will be faithful to reward him when the harvest comes. We live in a microwave culture. We want instant results and often jump from one ministry to another, one strategy to another, and one vision to another because we don’t see instant growth or the outcomes we expected. There are times to change but patience and hard work are also virtues in the kingdom. Great churches and ministries are built in years and decades not months. Great gifts are developed over time as well. To forget that sowing and reaping come in seasons and that the greatest trees take hundreds of years to grow rather than a few seasons sets us up for discouragement.

Paul asked Timothy to reflect on these things and to be blessed by doing so. You may want to do so as well. Be blessed.

I met with a young couple this morning.  They were married less than a year and were already having major struggles in their relationship.  He was frustrated.  She was crying.  They felt like they were fighting all the time and couldn’t understand what was going on. They both loved the Lord and were committed to ministry and growing spirituality so why were they fighting?  Had they made a mistake?  Did they misread God when they prayed and heard him bless their plans to become one?

After hearing their stories it became plain that they were missing one of the first rules of marriage – one of the first rules of loving someone in the Lord. That rule is to honor the way God has made the other person because he has made them for their destiny as well as you for your destiny.  To fail to honor God’s design in another individual gets in the way of developing talents and spiritual gifts – which gets in the way of being fulfilled and fruitful -which gets in the way of love.

When we come to a place where the differences in another individual (especially a spouse or a child) begin to frustrate us our tendency is to get busy trying to encourage (or coerce) that person to become more like us.  But in that moment we forget that God had a very intentional hand in making them just as he did in making us.  David declared, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Ps.139:13-16).

In this Psalm we are told that God creates our inmost being.  I understand that to be not only our talents but our temperament or personality as well.  Our design is also related to our destiny – the specific things for which God has uniquely created us, the things ordained for us day by day in heaven.  Most of us have an intuitive sense of what we were made for and we intuitively push back when people in our lives don’t allow us to “be ourselves.” We aren’t always sure of how we should express who we are but we know what feels natural and what feels unnatural to us.  We know what subjects in school come more easily than others. We know what attracts us and what repels us.

Paul echoes the same sentiment in the New Testament.  “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph.2:10).  Again, workmanship implies that God has an intentional hand in our design and our design is related to good works prepared in advance for us.  It stands to reason that if God has ordained good works for us then he will also design us in such a way that we can be effective in accomplishing those things.  In most cases, it will take not only the right talents but also the right temperament to fulfill God’s call on our life.  In addition, the Spirit will release spiritual gifts in our lives as icing on the cake.

As an example, if God places a call on someone’s life to teach special needs children then that person will need the academic capacity to get a degree and the talent to teach plus compassion and patience to take into the classroom.  In addition, that person will probably need a bent toward structure because the children will need structure. Talent and temperament both are needed and become part of God’s intentional design for that individual.

The couple I met with both had talents and a call to ministry but those gifts and that ministry needed to be expressed in different ways. He was extroverted and gregarious and loved to study the Word in big bites. He loved street ministry and his desire was to fill their house with teens every night for ministry and teaching. She was introverted and loved to go deep with a few people.  She loved the clarity and structure of prepared studies.  A house full of kids every night or approaching strangers on the street sounded like “a living hell” to her.  It is not who God made her to be. Yet, her husband wanted so badly for her to be his mate in ministry that he was pressuring her to do ministry in ways that fit his design but not hers.  She experienced that pressure as rejection of who she was and a statement that her spirituality was inadequate.  She felt rejected by her new husband who really is a great guy.  He just didn’t understand how his design called him to a different style that hers.  I encouraged them to find some middle ground but to allow different expressions of their faith so that they both could fulfill the destiny God had ordained for them.  Their destinies would be parallel as they went through life together but not identical.

Many of us have had destinies and spiritual gifts that never flourished because someone in our lives didn’t value the design God had built into us. As a result, we eventually either failed to value whom God had made us to be or just gave up on our dreams to keep the peace.   As parents, spouses, or spiritual mentors it is not our job to make people into our image but to help them discover God’s unique design for their life and it release them into that adventure.  Our job is to build them up and encourage them to pursue the “good works” for which God has destined them rather than to deconstruct them with criticism and to remake them as we see fit. Remember, we are to accept one another as Christ accepts us (see Rom.15:7).

One major aspect of Christian marriage, then, is that we pursue the destiny God has ordained for us while encouraging our spouse to do the same.  As we each operate in our God-given gifts and talents we will experience the fulfillment of partnering with God and when we do, we will be more content in every part of our life and that contentment will bless our marriage.  Remember the phrase, “Be all that you can be!”  That needs to be our heart for our spouse and children in their service to the Lord. You will be blessed by blessing them as they grow to be all that God has made them to be.

Some individuals question the value of prophetic gifts in the body of Christ today.  Much of their  questioning comes from a mistaken view of prophetic gifts in the New Testament compared to the prophetic office of the Old Testament.  The prophets presented on the pages of the O.T. were functioning in the office of prophet who prophesied to the nation on behalf of God.   They spoke to kings and called the nation to action.  The O.T. clearly says that these men were held to account and that every word they spoke must come true if they were to serve as a prophet.  God only selected a few of these men for the office.

In the New Testament, however, prophetic gifts differ from the office of prophet and are given to many to build up the body of Christ rather than to command a nation or a king.   Paul tells us in his discussion of prophecy in 1 Corinthians 12-14, that the gift is given for the common good and is to be used to strengthen, comfort, and encourage the body.  It is a gift that must be developed and learned to be used with skill just as a teacher, an evangelist, a preacher or a musician who is clearly gifted must also grow in their gift before they reach their full potential and effectiveness.  Because of that prophecies are to be tested as prophets learn to hear the Lord and understand what he is downloading in them.

Although the gift of prophecy is not always fully developed it still has great power in the lives of God’s people and the more it is developed the more powerful it is.  I want to share with you what Graham Cooke says about the power of a prophetic word to impact God’s people in life-giving ways:

“The Father lives with us and occupies the space between the potential we have and the actual that He views in our future. A prophecy is spoken from the future back to the present. That does not yet make it real or substantial. Free will is involved. Prophecy relates to the possibility, not the inevitability, of fulfillment because the will of the individual/group has to be engaged in cooperation with the Lord in order for the word to come to pass…Sometimes people are trapped into reliving or reenacting their past….Prophetic ministry needs to enter that place gently, lovingly, and firmly to extricate the individual from a present/past lifestyle…The best way to extricate people from the past is first to show them the future. Everyone has to have something to reach out for in life…The prophetic must put us in mind of a future time in regard to our present. When our mind is able to cover the ground between our present and our future, then we are free to move on in the things of God. ‘Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past.  Behold I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it?” (Isa.43:18-19)…When  people have been damaged, it is the future that can release then from the past.” (Graham Cooke, Approaching the Heart of Prophecy, p.114-115)

I have seen people lifted from the past and set on a new path on many occasions by a prophetic word.  The moment began with a word of knowledge revealed to the prophet by the Spirit.  It is a word about the past life of the individual that the prophet could have only known through a revelation from the Spirit. I can only believe his word about the future if he demonstrates supernatural knowledge about my past.  But the power of the moment is not in the prophet.

The power of the moment is found in the realization that God has been intimately involved in my life, even in those hurtful moments when I thought he was paying no attention at all to my pain.  His heart of concern and compassion about my pain is communicated through the prophet and his promise for the future releases me from the despair of believing  that my life is doomed to be as it has always been.  The word conveys the love of God for that person. The word breaths hope for the future into a tired and weary soul.  The word invites us into partnership with the creator of the universe to carve out a different future than I was expecting.  Prophecy is a true gift of God to his church and its truth resonates with the spirit of the person receiving it as the Spirit of God bears witness with his Spirit about what is being spoken.

If you have not done so, let me encourage you to embrace prophetic gifts.  They are not always on target or spoken well by those still learning.  But God will still speak to you through imperfect people in ways that he will confirm and that confirmation will fuel your soul for the future.  Be blessed today and ask God for a fresh word over your life.  You might even receive it from a prophet.

If you read this blog then you are probably sold on the blessing and significance of spiritual gifts. So for you I don’t have to make a case that the Holy Spirit still operates in power and that he still distributes spiritual gifts in the same way that he did in the first century church – even the more impressive gifts of healing, prophecy, tongues, etc.  Gifts are huge.  They are fulfilling and they are fruitful.  In fact, Paul encourages us to “earnestly desire spiritual gifts” (1 Cor.14:1). The word Paul uses for “earnestly desire” in this passage means to hunger for, be deeply committed to, or even to covet.  It is not a slight interest or a passing fancy but a passionate treasure-hunt kind of desire for spiritual gold.  Heaven would not understand why anyone would not pray for, fast for, seek impartation for, and diligently develop any spiritual gift that God had given a person a desire to possess and use.

Having said that our desires are paramount in operating in the gifts of the Spirit, we must also keep in mind that our motives for them and when using them are also paramount.  In the middle of Paul’s instructions about spiritual gifts in his first letter to Corinth, he deposits an entire chapter on motives.  Essentially he tells us that the spiritual gifts given to us are to be exercised on behalf of others and that their exercise should be governed by love.  Anything less than that will diminish the gift and the person with the gift.

In his book, Approaching the Heart of Prophecy, Graham Cooke relates this to prophetic gifts.  “Historically, the biggest failure in the prophetic has been a lack of love in prophet’s hearts…’Pursue love,’ Paul said.  That’s the best piece of advice I can give anyone seeking to move in the prophetic: pursue love” (p.110). Cooke goes on to explain that to prophesy we must hear God.  To hear God we must pursue God.  And to pursue God is to pursue love because God is love.

How many of us as parents have given cookies to our children with the instruction, “Be sure to share those with the others.”  If we saw our children operate selfishly with the gift or saw them manipulate others with the gift, we wanted to take back what we had given them or, at least, we thought twice about giving them cookies again.  God is a Father and he probably feels that way about spiritual gifts at times when his children keep them to themselves or use them for personal gain – adulation, manipulation, ego-satisfaction, power-tripping, etc.  What is true for prophecy is true for the other gifts as well – whether it is administration, mercy, music, or leadership. Our motives matter.

As we pursue gifts or attempt to increase a gift that we have received, we should be aware of our motives and our love for others. Is our hunger driven by self-focused motives or by a true desire to meet the needs of others and to build up the body of  Christ?  It’s not that we can’t enjoy the gifts or derive a sense of fulfillment and pleasure when we operate in our gifts, but that is a serendipity to the purpose of all spiritual gifts – which is to build up, encourage, comfort, and strengthen others. God is always glad to give us more cookies when we are willing to give most of them away. It’s just good to do a heart check on that issue from time to time as we ask for more.  Be blessed today and enjoy your cookies…but remember to share.

“I am the Lord who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself…who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers…” (Isa.44:24-26).

Most of us are familiar with the concept of prophetic words.  God puts his words on the lips of his prophets and as they declare those words they release the activities of God to bring about those prophetic declarations.  Jeremiah is the perfect example of that dynamic.  “Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, ‘Now, I have put my words in your mouth.  See today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant’” (Jer.1:9-10). Jeremiah never led an army or launched a war through the power of politics.  He tore down and built up by declaring the words God had given him.  Like a starter firing the gun to release the runners in a race, the prophet releases the power of heaven we he/she declares the words of God.

God frequently works in partnership with his people.  He could do all things by himself but chooses to work with us and through us.  Prophetic words are really his words going forth from our lips and, like prayers, it is possible that some things are not released because we have not spoken what God has put on our hearts or lips.

Many prophetic words are also conditional. A prophet will say what God will do if we are willing to respond to the word or what he will do if we don’t respond. When Jonah preached to Nineveh that judgment would come in forty days, it was a word that also presented the option of repentance.  Nineveh did repent and God withheld judgment.  In the New Testament church, when a prophetic word declares that God will use a person mightily in a certain area, the condition is that the individual must be willing to prepare for that moment and be willing to serve in that arena for the prophecy to be fulfilled.  The prophecy is conditional – God will do this if you will do that. Again, God often works through partnership with his people and we determine by our choices how much of God’s will on the earth is released and becomes a reality.

There are also prophetic acts that release God’s activities on the earth.  One such moment is recorded between the prophet Elisha and the king of Israel. “He said, “Open the window toward the east,” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot!” And he shot. And he said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Aram; for you will defeat the Arameans at Aphek until you have destroyed them.” Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground,” and he struck it three times and stopped. So the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times, then you would have struck Aram until you would have destroyed it. But now you shall strike Aram only three times” (2 Kings 13:17-19).  In this case, the king of Israel performed his own prophetic act and his lack of zeal or faith drew less form heaven than God was willing to give.

Anointing someone with oil can also be a prophetic act.  “So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power” (I Sa. 16:13). Pouring oil on a king, a prophet, or a priest that God has chosen is certainly a sign that God has selected that person for an office or mission but I believe it is also a prophetic act that releases the Holy Spirit into that person’s life. In each instance, the appointing required an anointing with the Spirit for them to successfully fulfill the role that God had given them.  Does God ever give his Spirit to someone without anointing him/her with oil?  Yes, of course, but at other times anointing releases the power of heaven (the Holy Spirit) over the one who is in need of the Spirit.  The laying on of hands can be a similar prophetic act that releases or imparts authority, spiritual gifts, or the Spirit himself into a person’s life.

I believe it is the same for healing.  Mark tells us that the apostles anointed many people with oil and healed them (see Mark 6:13).  James tells the church to call the elders whenever someone is sick so that the elders can anoint the sick with oil in the name of Jesus and offer a prayer of faith which will bring healing (see Ja. 5:14).  I believe the oil is a prophetic act releasing the power of the Spirit in that person’s body for healing.  We need to take note that that prophetic acts are not incantations but are done in faith that God will fulfill what is indicated by that act.

The church today often simply goes through the motions of “sacraments” without believing that God is doing anything as a result.  And yet the Bible is full of prophetic acts that release the activities of God over a nation or a person. In the New Testament we are instructed to anoint with oil, lay hands on people, baptize in water, and take bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper.  I believe that each of these are not just symbols of a truth but are also prophetic acts that combined with faith will release the power of heaven into a situation or a person’s life.

Churches often neglect or minimize these “acts” thinking that they are simply symbols rather than prophetic acts releasing the power of God into someone’s life.  Water baptism certainly symbolizes rebirth, resurrection, cleansing, etc. but what if it not only symbolizes those things but also releases the power of God for those things. As we take the communion bread we often say. “The body of Christ broken for you.” We are also told “by his stripes we have been healed.”  The broken body of Christ has purchased healing for believers.  Does the taking of bread in faith constitute a prophetic act that releases healing over God’s people?  If so, we might want to take communion more than once a quarter. Does the cup that represents the blood of Christ release other things over the children of God?  I will leave that for you to think about.  Again…it is all by faith in what Jesus had done but God has always waited on his people to declare, pray, or act before releasing miracles and the power of his Spirit into situations.  Maybe we should give more thought to that partnership.

Be blessed today and declare the words of God over those things that need his Spirit.

I keep being reminded that our view of God and our view of how God views us (say that three times as fast as you can) is essential to moving in the power of God. To a great extent the power of God in our lives will be expressed through the gifts of the Spirit. The gifts, of course, are given rather than earned.  Many of us fail to receive the gifts we desire because we somehow believe that God does not esteem us enough to entrust those gifts to us.  Many of us still see God as an all-powerful, all-knowing deity who is first and foremost in the judgment business. We cast ourselves in the role of Belshazzar who was told by God that he had been “weighed in the balance and found lacking” (Dan.5:27).

However, judgment is not God’s primary business because judgment is not primary in God’s heart.  When God gave Moses instructions for building the tabernacle he was very specific and he told Moses to make everything exactly according to the plan or blueprint he would be given. Everything in the tabernacle was specifically ordained because the tabernacle was designed to reveal God’s nature to his people.  At the very core of the tabernacle was the Holy of Holies and in that room sat the Ark of the Covenant. Moses was given very specific instructions about the ark.

They shall construct an ark of acacia wood two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high. “You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and you shall make a gold molding around it. …“You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide. “You shall make two cherubim of gold, make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat. “Make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat at its two ends. “The cherubim shall have their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings and facing one another; the faces of the cherubim are to be turned toward the mercy seat. “You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I will give to you. “There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel. (Ex.25:17-22)

The ark was essentially a wooden box covered with gold in which the tablets of stone that had been given to Moses would be stored and carried as the Hebrews moved from place to place in the wilderness. The Holy Place (the room outside the Holy of Holies) and the Holy of Holies were to represent the throne room of God in heaven and the ark was to represent his throne. In Isaiah 6, we get a vision of God’s throne room in heaven and around the throne the Seraphim are crying “Holy. Holy. Holy.”  If you want an earthly analogy for the seraphim it would be the royal chorus who sing praises in the presence of the king.  Other angelic beings associated with the throne of God are the cherubim.  These angels might be compared to the palace guard.  In the first chapter of Ezekiel the prophet sees a terrible storm coming toward Israel and a vision of God coming in judgment upon the nation.  In chapters 9 and 10 he tells us that the creatures he saw in his vision were the cherubim who were carrying God on his throne, as if it were a war chariot, as he came in judgment in chapter one.  We first discover cherubim guarding the entrance to the Garden of Eden with a flaming sword after Adam and Eve were forced to leave.  Their purpose was to let no sinful man enter the Garden or the presence of God. In the making of the ark, cherubim were to be cast in gold and placed on both ends of the cover of the ark in which the Law of Moses was placed. So far, the image seems ominous.  But between the cherubim, the guardians of God’s holiness, Moses was to construct a mercy seat that was to represent God’s throne.

It would have been easy to assume that God would instruct Moses to construct a judgment seat on top of the ark.  After all, the Law was deposited in the ark and that law would reveal our sinfulness. The cherubim surrounded the throne and they were the guardians of God’s holiness.  And yet, in the midst of that, God’s emphasis was mercy rather than judgment. We discover through those images that the purpose of God constructing the tabernacle was not to sit in judgment on his people but to dispense mercy.  God’s heart for us is always mercy and James, the brother of Jesus, tell us that mercy always triumphs over judgment (See James 2:13).

It’s not that God won’t judge sin or wickedness but it is always his last choice. Even Ezekiel’s vision of impending judgment was to bring a rebellious nation to repentance so that God would not have to judge. Many of us live and view God as if judgment and the rejection that goes with it are always God’s first choice.  The truth is that God is merciful first.  After David’s sin with Bathsheba, he wrote Psalm 51 and began his psalm of repentance by saying, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love.” David’s view of God was a God who would forgive even adultery and murder because he was first of all merciful and loving.

On the Day of Atonement, the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies and sprinkle blood on the mercy seat.  They symbolism was that the blood covered the Law that was in the ark so that the cherubim guarding the throne could no longer see the Law. Without the law there is no sin and so because the blood of an innocent covered the law, we could enter into the presence of God. Under the Old Covenant only the high priest who represented the people could enter into God’s presence but at the death of Jesus, the veil that separated God from man was torn in two.  The mercy of God triumphed over judgment and we have been given free access to the Father through Jesus.

Such a God does not take account of every failing and measure his blessings out according to our performance. He gives willingly and freely to all who have been declared innocent of sin by the blood of Christ. He rejoices to give his children gifts and especially spiritual gifts for the work of the kingdom.

We are the ones hung up on ours sins – not God.  We are the ones who fail to ask because we keep declaring our unworthiness – not God. We are the ones who run first to judgment, especially to judge ourselves – not God.  God views us through the filter of grace, mercy, and the cleansing blood of his Son.  He gives blessing and gifts from the place of mercy rather than judgment. When we can finally understand in our hearts who our Father is, then we will rejoice to ask and have faith that we will receive. Then we will expect God to grant us gifts of healing, prophecy, wisdom, knowledge, etc. and the church will begin to minister in power. We will expect God to give us those gifts because he rejoices in doing so – even to imperfect people like us.

Remember today that God’s first choice is always mercy.  His last choice is judgment. Expect very good things today from a very good Father and be blessed.

In his classic book, Mere Christianity, the British author C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia) tells the story of an “old, hard-bitten officer” in the Royal Air Force who stood up at a lecture Lewis was giving about Christian doctrines and said, ”I’ve no use for all that stuff.  But mind you I’m a religious man too.  I know there’s a God. I’ve felt him; out alone in the desert at night; the tremendous mystery.  And that’s why I just don’t believe your little dogmas and formulas about him. To anyone who’s met the real thing they all seem so petty, so pedantic, and unreal!” Here was a man who had experienced God in a profound way and who felt that studying the word and understanding doctrines about God was unnecessary and, perhaps, boring.  Whenever he wanted to connect with God he could just go to the desert.  That was enough.

If you have read this blog very long you know that I believe God wants us to experience him – not just read about him.  But there is a danger in basing your understanding of God primarily on experiences rather than the word and diligent study.  It takes both. I like Lewis’ analogy to explain the need for both experience and study.

“If a man has once looked at the Atlantic from a beach, and then goes and looks at a map of the Atlantic, he also will be turning from something real to something less real: turning from real waves to a bit of colored paper.  But here comes the point. The map is admittedly only colored paper, but there are two things you have to remember about it.  In the first place, it is based on what hundreds and thousands of people have found out by sailing the real Atlantic.  In that way it has behind it masses of experience just as real as the one you could have from the beach; only, while yours would be a single isolated glimpse, the map fits all those experiences together.  In the second place, it you want to go anywhere, the map is absolutely necessary. As long as you are content with walks on the beach, your own glimpses are far more fun than looking at a map.  But the map is going to be more use than walks on the beach if you want to get to America.  Now, theology is like the map.  Merely learning and thinking about the Christian doctrines, if you stop there, is less real and less exciting than the sort of thing my friend got in the desert. Doctrines are not God: they are only a kind of map. But that map is based on the experiences of hundreds of people who really were in touch with God…And secondly, if you want to get any further, you must use the map. You see what happened to that man in the desert may have been real, and was certainly exciting, but nothing comes of it.  It leads nowhere.” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 135-136)

Lewis goes on to make the point that if all you ever do is look at the map without going to sea, then the map is useless.  However, if you go to sea without the map, you are in dangerous waters indeed.  I think that is especially true for the deep waters of experiencing God.  Many believers have simply studied the map (the Bible) for years without going out on the waters of risk and the miraculous.  Others however have plunged into the exciting waters of miracles and experiences with God without a map.

I was frustrated and disappointed this past year while attending a conference on healing that was hosted by a church I highly respect.  One of the speakers was teaching a session on healing and in a sentence or two made fun of people who thought you needed to anoint someone with oil before healing.  His attitude seemed to be that his experiences with God had taken him beyond all that.  Well, I believe people can be healed without anointing.  Most of us have seen that happen.  On the other hand, anointing with oil is a clear biblical teaching that should not be dismissed out of hand or treated as if only the immature would still use such archaic approaches to healing.  If it’s on the map there is a reason and we should not begin to assume we know more than the mapmaker.  John tells us that we must always test the spirits to see if they are from God. The first test is whether their directions line up with what’s on the map.

We are moving into a season where the Holy Spirit will not be the only spirit producing miracles and amazing spiritual experiences even in our churches.  If we have not studied the “map” diligently, we may be led off the map into dangerous waters.  Some of the old sailing maps would simply have a warning along the edge of unexplored territories that simply said, “There be monsters here.”  I’m not saying that God will not manifest in ways he has never done before. I think he may expand our understanding of the map so that it feels like new, unexplored territory.  But it will still be consistent with his ways, his character, and his Word.  An experienced sailor who has studied and trusted the “map” for years will know when new directions make absolutely no sense. At least he will sail with caution while keeping his eye on true north.

My encouragement today for those of us who love to experience God is that we also need to become serious students of the Word.  The psalmist declared, “I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Ps.119:104-105).  Understanding gained from diligent study keeps us from taking wrong paths and ending up in waters where “there be monsters.” The light or understanding we gain from God’s word gives us light for the path ahead but also instructs us in our walk for immediate circumstances. His light not only keeps us on track but also keeps us from stumbling while on that track.

Without experiencing God we will not truly know him but without the map we won’t be sure that we have truly found him.  If you sail for America but end up in Calcutta, you have not had a successful journey regardless of the adventures you had along the way.  It was exciting, but you are still lost. As we begin this new year, most of us have probably determined to read more scripture.  That’s good.  But let me encourage you not just to read but to study and to meditate on what you are reading. Reading through the Bible in a year is praiseworthy, however, many of us read through materials in school just before a test but still failed the test.  Reading over something is not the same as study. To study is to read, consider, process, share the concepts with others and then test what we have learned.  Please add that to experiencing God this year and we will not only sail but arrive at our intended destination.  Be blessed!

Daniel, like many others of his generation, was a victim of poor leadership in the kingdom of Judah. The wickedness of King Jehoiakim forced God to release the dogs of war and they showed up on Jerusalem’s doorstep in the form of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. After laying siege to the city and taking the king of Judah captive, Nebuchadnezzar also took the best and the brightest of Jerusalem’s young men to Babylon where they would serve the empire.

Daniel was bright and educated. He probably never expected to see Israel or his family again. His deportation suddenly and irrevocably separated him from his family and the familiar reminders of his faith – the temple, the Torah readings, the sacrifices, the priesthood, and the feast days.  It would have been easy and even “normal” for Daniel to feel abandoned by the God he had worshipped back home and even to wonder if the gods of Babylon were, indeed, more powerful than Jehovah.  It would have been “normal,” but Daniel wasn’t normal.

Within this young man was a faith and a commitment to that faith that went beyond the ordinary.  That faith, commitment and even stubbornness was revealed immediately as Daniel resolved not to partake of the “unclean” foods of Babylon even though he had been ordered to eat them.  Maybe it was the arrogance of youth that made him stand against his captors but God honored his stand and gave him favor with his overseers.

As the account of Daniel develops we see that he was given power and influence by God, even in the midst of his enemies.  He was given an amazing prophetic gift and an uncanny gift for interpreting dreams unparalleled in scripture. There is one verse in all of the Book of Daniel, however, that always catches my eye. In chapter 6, the intrigues of palace politics were rolled out.  God had given Daniel so much favor with King Darius that Darius was planning to set Daniel over the financial affairs of the whole nation. Of course, this “foreign upstart” became the object of great jealousy and resentment from the “home boys” in the palace.

In their jealousies they plotted to discredit Daniel before the king. But the text says, “At this the administrators and satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt not negligent.  Finally these men said, ‘We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.’”

Daniel not only had faith in the God of heaven, but integrity in every part of his life. That quality allowed God to entrust amazing spiritual gifts and influence to Daniel.  How many of us desire great gifts in the kingdom of God and, perhaps, cultural influence but fail in the test of integrity and diligence?  When these men began to turn over stones to discredit Daniel they could find no mismanagement of funds, no personal scandals, and no lack of diligence in the things that had been entrusted to him.

After they had turned over every stone and could find no dirt, they decided that they would have to find some way for the laws of Babylon to conflict with the laws of Daniel’s God. They new the man well enough to know that the faith that gave him power and influence with the king was a faith for which he was willing to go to jail or worse. Soon, Daniel found himself facing a den of liars who had no compunctions about what they were doing and who would seem to have the upper hand because he would not use his power and influence to destroy them.

You know the story.  These manipulators “conned” an egocentric king into passing a law that for thirty days, no man could pray to another god or man except Darius,  under penalty of death. Flattered by the suggestion, Darius agreed and soon these men brought reports that Daniel had been discovered praying to his God in violation of the new decree.  Darius was trapped and as much as he tried to find a loophole for Daniel he could not. Daniel was tossed into a den of hungry lions but in the morning walked out unharmed because God had sent an angel to close the mouth of the lions.

What a model for those of us who want to move in greater power and influence for the kingdom of God because those spiritual things entrusted to us and are to be governed with wisdom, diligence and integrity.  Without those character traits the show up first in the natural realm, the gifts and the influence might destroy us, wound the church, and dishonor the King we serve.

So maybe an inventory of our own integrity and diligence is in order. What could the enemies of God find in our current lives to discredit us and the God we serve? What small scandals might be lurking because of our careless words or actions? Sometimes we want to compartmentalize our life and live as if what we do or don’t do in one part has nothing to do with the other. We want to believe that we can seek God’s gifts, blessings, and influence and somehow think that the way we operate in the rest of our lives makes no difference. But the way we operate a business, pay our bills, speak truth to our customers or our spouse, relate to the opposite sex, work when the boss isn’t around, treat employees or the cashier at the convenience store has everything to do with how God will use us in his kingdom.

Jesus said, “So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? (Luke 16:11). The true riches Jesus spoke of are spiritual riches.  Daniel challenges me. He was not perfect, since only Jesus was perfect, but he lived a life that honored God at every level. When men rose up to destroy him they could find no basis for accusation. When his faithfulness to God set him in opposition to the state, God was there with Daniel in the darkness, as the lions grew hungrier through the night. In the morning, Daniel walked out to the delight of Darius who then honored Daniel’s God. Those who had opposed Daniel had a date with hungry lions.

In the future, as I pray for more spiritual riches from God, I will try to take account of my integrity, diligence. and excellence in the other parts of my life so that God can trust me with more. As we look at a nation that seems to be bankrupt of character, lets pray that God will raise up more men and women like Daniel who will honor God in every part of their lives and live above reproach so that He can set them in places of power and authority as well.

I have heard it said that “Jesus is imprisoned within many believers and desperately wants out. “ It’s not that he wants to separate himself from any of us.  It’s just that Jesus decided to take up residence within us by his Spirit so that he could continue to have a physical presence on the earth through us.

Paul put it this way, “ I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live but Christ lives in me” (Gal.2:20).  The implication of that statement is that Paul lived constantly by the leading of the Spirit so that in any given moment he would do what Jesus would have done and say what Jesus would have said.  In that way,  Christ was incarnated once again in Paul.

We all remember the WWJD bracelets that were popular a few years ago.  The idea seemed to be that when confronted with an issue, a challenge, or a dilemma, we should ask, “What would Jesus do if he were in my shoes?”  It’s a great question, but I think most of us want to consult with Jesus or meditate on his life when we get to a fork in the road and we are uncertain of our path, when crisis rolls in and we are uncertain how to pray, or when temptation is pulling at us and we are thinking about giving in.

But Paul’s statement seems to encompass every moment of every day rather than moments of crisis or indecision.  Have you ever wondered…

• What would Jesus do if he were just wandering around Wal-Mart?
• What would he do in the midst of screaming parents at a little league game?
• What would he do when no one was looking?
• What would he do in the face of tragedy as he sat with a family who just got a diagnosis of stage-four cancer in the mother of two small children?
• What would he do with the homeless man on the corner hustling money?
• What would he do with a thirteen year old girl who just came home and announced she was pregnant or gay?
• What would Jesus do at the scene of an accident where a six year old boy who was hit by a car just died on the side of the road?
• What would he do as he sat at board meeting for a Fortune 500 business?
• What would he do while he was on the job checking people out at an all night convenience store?

My point is that Jesus wants to live through us in every circumstance of life – not just when we are stuck or in a moral dilemma.  To let Jesus out, we need to sense through his Spirit what he would do or say in any of those settings. What would he talk about with the people paying for gas at midnight?  Would he immediately pray for supernatural healing for the cancer victim or pray for life to reenter the six year old body of an accident victim? Would he take the homeless man for a meal and talk about his life?   If he would, then we should.

If we are to let Jesus out of his prison, we must do whatever he would do. Sometimes I believe he would just tell someone that God loves them.  Sometimes he would just carry a heavy grocery bag for an arthritic grandmother. Sometimes he would get the in the face of a religious tyrant and at other times he would heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead, and talk to someone about the kingdom of God – even at Starbucks.   He might even mow his neighbor’s yard just for fun.

So…just for fun, let’s all be Jesus today in every setting in which we find ourselves.  Let’s ask the Spirit to prompt us to absolutely be Jesus not only in the extraordinary moments of our day but also in the most ordinary moments of our day as well. For today, let’s let Jesus out and then do it again tomorrow.