David is one of the most recognizable and popular figures in all of scripture.  His battle against Goliath is one of the most iconic stories in all of history so that even non-believers are familiar with the story.  I won’t rehearse the story in detail because of time considerations but if you are fuzzy on the details, 1 Samuel 17 would be the place to go.  As your recall, Israel and  the Philistines are camped opposite one another in a valley only about twelve miles from Bethlehem. For forty days, the Philistine champion Goliath has come forth morning and evening to challenge Israel. Forty, of course, is the biblical number for testing and purifying.  The faith of Israel has been tested without great results because no one has been willing to step out to face the man who has been blaspheming the God of Israel every day, twice a day,  for well over a month.

Of course, David arrives to check on his brothers and the status of the battle and hears the challenge of Goliath. David can’t believe that someone hasn’t stepped out in faith to take on the bully so he offers to face the nine-foot champion of Israel’s enemy.  I assume that Saul had become desperate and somewhat embarrassed by his own lack of courage.  After all, one of the reasons he was made king is that he stood head and shoulders above most men In Israel.  Kings were supposed to lead their nations into battle in those days. It is likely that Saul was also the biggest Hebrew on the field and one of the only Hebrews with real weapons and probably the only one with armor.  The Philistines knew how to work iron, a technology that had not been mastered by the Israelites, and so they were well armed with swords and shields while Israel came with clubs, axes, farm implements, sticks and probably a few slings.

Apparently, in a moment of desperation, Saul allowed a young, untrained shepherd boy to step out as the champion of Israel. You know the rest of the story but a few details are worth mentioning.  First of all, David approached the battle with a primary motive of vindicating the name of the God of Israel.  His anger burned because Goliath had spent 4o days declaring that the God of Israel was powerless against him and the gods of Philistia, including Dagon.  Some Jewish Rabbis believe that Goliath had the name of Dagon inscribed on his uniform covering his heart. David’s motive was to honor God and to uphold his name.

Secondly, after Saul offered David his armor, David laid it aside because it didn’t fit him. They didn’t order up a smaller size because Saul’s was the only armor in the camp.  But David believed that God had already equipped him for the moment with both faith and a weapon that was suited to David. David drew faith from prior encounters with his enemies, a lion and a bear, and determined that since God had delivered from wild animals as he protected his sheep, this “giant” was no more of a match for God than the critters David had already dispatched.  It’s noteworthy that David didn’t despise the things with which God had already equipped him. A sword and armor certainly looks more impressive than a leather strap and a rock but David knew how to use the sling and by faith saw that it was sufficient for the moment…in fact, it was more than sufficient. The sword that Saul had offered would have placed him within the reach of the giant’s spear while a sling kept him out of reach and facing the giant on David’s terms rather than Goliath’s.

When we face giants in our lives we often see ourselves as Goliath saw David – small, inexperienced, and incapable.   We began to compare ourselves to others and think that others are better equipped to face our giants than we are. Yet God is not surprised by our dilemma and has already made provision for the victory.  In many cases he has already prepared us and given us what we need, along with him, to overcome the adversity before us. Instead of believing that God will supernaturally use what we already have we often start looking for what others have. Instead of believing that God will do something amazing with our five loaves and fishes we start scouring the countryside for someone elses provisions.

It’s not that we never need help or never need others to stand beside us in the battle. The problem is that I see so many who believe that God would never work through them in powerful ways or give them a miracle so they turn down opportunities to pray for the sick, cast out a demon, press in for a miracle, or share there faith with a “biker.”  Instead, they call the pastor or the highly gifted person in their church to do those things.  They never grow because they assume God always works through others and never believe that God will work through them.  David assumed that if God put the burden on his heart to face the enemy, then God would use David as he was to bring down the giant.  David had faith for that moment because he had faced scary moments before when God had to show up or disaster was in the making.  Every time David had been in over his head in the natural, God had moved in the supernatural. Granted, bears and lions didn’t carry javelins so this was an even bigger risk but the lesser risks and God’s faithfulness in the past prepared him for this one.

Our problem is that most of us intentionally live “spiritually safe” lives without much risk. We believe.  We get along with our neighbors and live unoffensive lives.  We pray for the ordinary and live in the ordinary.  We rarely put ourselves in places of risk – either the risk of our lives or our dignity. We tend to turn down mission trips to dangerous third world environments for a variety of great reasons.  We don’t publically ask for the impossible in our prayers, command bodies to be healed, or bark orders at demons because we don’t want to be disappointed or embarrassed if God says no. We don’t risk over and over and so our faith doesn’t multiply each time God comes through. Because we haven’t proven God, when a real giant steps onto our stage we have no faith for the battle.  The best we can do is run to find others who do.  I’m not opposed to that.  I’m just saying that it is not the best because God has made us to kill our giants with his help and unless we face the giants our faith will never grow and our belief that God can use us to do great things will never flourish.

Scripture says that you can do all things through Christ. Scripture says that you are more than a conqueror. You have power and authority over the enemy.  My encouragement is that you choose to believe that God has also prepared you to overcome the enemy. Your armor and your weapons may be different from mine but they are the ones God has prepared you to wield.  So today, charge the enemy with the strength, the gifts, and the experience he has given you. Do it in his name and for his glory and watch the giants fall.  Be blessed.

“The simple statement ‘God is love,” has far-reaching implications the minute we begin to live our lives based on that statement. When God who has created me is love and only love, I am loved before any human being loved me.  When I was a small child I kept asking my father and mother: ‘Do you love me?’ I asked that question so often and so persistently that it became a source of irritation to my parents. For even though they assured me hundreds of times that they loved me I never seemed fully satisfied with their answers and kept on asking the same question.  Now, many years later, I realize I wanted a response they couldn’t give.  I wanted them to love me with an everlasting love. I know that this was the case because my question, ‘Do you love me?’ was always accompanied by the question, ‘Do I have to die?’  Somehow, I must have known  that if my parents would love me with a total, unlimited, unconditional love, I would never die.” (Henri Nouwen, Here and Now, p. 78).

The love of God truly is the answer to every question and every concern in life.  When my father died in 1987 I felt a little displaced.  When my mother died years later, even though I had grown children of my own, there was a part of me that felt like an orphan who would no longer have a place to go if the foundations of my world ever collapsed.  I think most of us feel like orphans at some time in our life: alone, unsupported, insignificant and uncared for.  The very things that we grasp at for meaning, security, and protection as “orphans” often drive love away.  Control, a need to always be right, material possessions, distrust, anger, and the capacity to be often and easily offended all seem right to us because we feel alone and vulnerable in a hostile world.

Our greatest need is the security that only unconditional love can provide but people do not have the capacity to provide that love day in and day out and besides we often have to watch the ones we do love fade away and die.  The only solution is an unconditional love that never dies.  Our Father in heaven is the only solution.  It is his love that we long for.  It is a powerful love that says, “I will never leave you; I will never forsake you.”  Our problem is that most of us have a very difficult time accepting and receiving that love. We don’t feel worthy and we don’t feel that anyone could love an unworthy person to that degree.  It is, however, the entire message of the cross.  It is God standing and screaming that he loved us when we did not love him or give him a second thought and he loved us enough to die for us.

That is the essential truth and the only one that can override my orphan spirit so that I can rest in the love and care of a father who will never fade or die.  My experience, however, is that such a truth cannot be learned but must be revealed by the Spirit to my heart and experienced in some profound, supernatural way to get past all of my preset perspectives and beliefs about life, in general, and myself in particular.

Any approach to God on a purely intellectual level will fail to breach all the barriers my heart has erected through the years.  I need an experiential touch from God to override my fears and my past. I need to hear his voice.  I need to feel his presence.  I need to see him work a miracle in my life.  I need him to overpower the devil who has tormented me. I need his provision when I believed all was lost. I need to feel his touch when I believed I was untouchable.  I reject the notion that seeking an experience with God is somehow less than believing Bible facts or opens us up to deception.  I believe seeking an experience with God is the testimony of scripture that  this search should be the primary pursuit of every man.  God is willing.  What Father does not want to speak to his child personally, hug them, rescue them from danger, or put food on the table for them as daily bread?

Let me encourage you to seek God not just knowledge about God.  Ask for an experience.  Ask for a miracle.  Ask to be used in supernatural ways to bless others. When we experience him we come to know him.  When we come to know him we come to know his love – a love that never dies.  Ultimately, we come to know we are not orphans and that we will never die because his love will never die.  Be blessed today by seeking your experience with God.

They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.” Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”    But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”            And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them. (Num.13:27-33).

This is the account of the return of the twelve spies that the Hebrews sent into Canaan when the Hebrews first came to the land after leaving Egypt.  Many Christians neglect the study of the Old Testament because we live under a different covenant but the New Testament says that the things written before Christ were written for our learning (see Rom.15:4).  We need to find the principles imbedded in these texts so that we can live by faith and secure the promises of God today.  These principles don’t change because God doesn’t change.  So…let’s take a look.

God had determined to give this land to his people hundreds of years before the Hebrews peered over the Jordan.  He had promised the land to Abraham and his descendants and Moses had led them out of Egypt and brought them to the brink of the promise being fulfilled. Basically, God told them that He had already given them the land; they just needed to cross the Jordan and possess it.  God promised that He would go with them and fight before them assuring them victory after victory.  God had demonstrated His commitment and power through the ten plagues that brought Egypt to her knees, by the parting of the Red Sea, and by the destruction of Pharaoh’s army.  He had shown His power and glory on the top of Sinai and had miraculously provided food and water for all the people in the desert.

The people counseled Moses to send spies into Canaan to get a first hand report of the topography of the land, the abundance of the land, and the people who lived there.  Moses thought it was a sound idea so they dispatched twelve men – one from each tribe.  When they retuned after 40 days, they reported that the land was everything God had described but the people there were strong and some were “giants” such as would be seen in Goliath years later.  At the report, whatever courage the people had before quickly faded and they decided that the task was too much – God had called them to so something that was undoable. Because of their unbelief, that entire generation of Hebrews wandered in the desert for 40 years until they died.  After that, their children took the land.

Several questions come to mind as a result of this account.

1. How much does God have to do to convince us that He is for us and that we can overcome any obstacle by His power? Plagues, Red Sea, manna in the wilderness, a pillar of fire by night and a cloud during the day to lead the way, the Law of God written on stone, etc. Was that not enough to prove His intent for His people and His capacity to deliver and provide?  Apparently not.

2. Why did Moses not ask God about sending spies rather than taking counsel from the people?  Up to that point God had directed their every step and protected them by His power.  Why did Moses think they needed to know their way around the country or confirm what God had already told them was true?  The Hebrews had not shown great faith or good judgment in any way up to that point. Why did Moses think it would be different then?  Perhaps he thought the goodness of the land would catch their attention more that the obstacles.  Whatever he thought did not bring about the results he hoped for. Fear and unbelief ruled the day.

3. Why didn’t God just send destroying angels or plague into the land and clear it out ahead of time so that the Hebrews could just walk right in and set up shop?

Here are a few principles for us.

God’s word about a thing is sufficient because He cannot lie.  However, He is always willing to demonstrate His good intentions toward us and His power for us in order to give us confidence that we have understood Him and His word. For a while, God will give us miracles to produce faith; but after a while, He will expect our faith to produce the miracles.  There comes a time when His actions have demonstrated His character enough that we should have at least a minimal level of faith.  The greater the miracles are that He has shown us, the more faith is expected – to whom much is given, much is required. At some point, God will expect us to understand His commitment to us and His character so that we will choose to trust and obey when facing even great obstacles.

Some of us have little faith because we have never allowed God to put us in risky situations.  If we are never in risky situations, we will never need a miracle.  If we never need a miracle, we will never see a miracle and our faith will remain small. When our faith remains small, we will never experience all the goodness, the fruit, and the victory God has promised.  We will simply live and die without experiencing everything that God has stored up for us and that Jesus has paid for.

Additionally, when God has given us a promise and a clear word to go after something, we should never dialogue with the devil or people who have demonstrated little faith in their lives.
They will always counsel us to trust in men rather than God; in what we can see rather than in what we can imagine by faith, and they will simply point out the giants rather than the amazing victories that will be ours by faith.  Stay away from bad reports and from those who always see giants rather than the One who slays giants through His people.

We must also live knowing that God wants us to face obstacles that are impossible to conquer without Him.  If he clears the way ahead of time we never grow, never get stronger, and never get to know Him better.  We would simply become spoiled trust-fund babies, in the spiritual sense, who feel entitled to all blessings and thankful for none.  Besides…when you face the impossible and Jesus shows up, life gets to be fun.  Your faith becomes an adventure that enriches your life beyond measure and Jesus becomes very real. In the realm of your faith, risk is always your friend when God has called you to the risk.   We should learn from David who ran toward the giant rather than away from him.

Finally, the land that was impossible to take was taken a few years later by the children of those who had no faith.  The walls of Jericho could have fallen just as easily 40 years earlier if Israel had responded with just a little faith.   But thankfully, children can rise above their parents in the spiritual realm usually by learning from their parent’s mistakes.  One of the ways we can honor our fathers and mothers is to not judge their mistakes but to learn from them.

So today reflect on all the ways God has already demonstrated His commitment to you and His power.  Consider every miracle, every answered prayer, every moment of divine protection, every healed heart and relationship, and expect God to do it all again and to do even greater things for you.  Be willing to take some risk for the kingdom of God and run toward any giants that come your way today.  God truly has already promised you victory.  Be blessed today in Him.

In scripture, “keys” represent authority. Jesus said, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matt.16:18-19).  In essence, Jesus was declaring war on hell and pronouncing the victory in advance. In order to prosecute the war against a supernatural enemy, the church was going to need supernatural power and authority.  Jesus said that he would give that authority to his church.

Jesus had already demonstrated the supernatural power and authority of the kingdom of heaven in his own ministry.  “Supernatural” does not always mean mystical or magical. It simply means “above the natural” or “beyond the natural.”  In our context it means that power and authority derived from the spiritual realm exceeds or trumps anything that can be found in the natural or the temporal realm. In the natural realm disease, hunger, and storms have their way. But Jesus dominated each of these in the natural realm by exercising authority derived from heaven.  He also demonstrated that the power of heaven is greater than the power of darkness within the spiritual realm by casting out demons, raising the dead, and by his own resurrection.

While Jesus was on the earth, he delegated that same power and authority to the twelve and then to seventy other followers who also healed the sick, raised the dead, and cast out demons. Upon his return to heaven, Jesus sent his Holy Spirit who also imparts power and authority to the followers of Jesus for healing, deliverance, miracles and so forth.  That power is manifested through spiritual gifts that are backed by the authority and power of heaven.

In addition, the Holy Spirit himself has taken up residence within every believer and has made us partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet.1:4).  John tells us that we now possess eternal life through our relationship with Jesus.  When all those factors are taken into consideration, it appears that we should operate more in the spiritual realm than in the natural.  In fact, if we possess eternal life now, we are primarily spiritual beings because only those things that belong to the spiritual realm are eternal.  “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor.4:18).

Since we are primarily spiritual beings, Paul directs us to fix our eyes on that realm – to make the spiritual realm our first point of reference in all things.  Jesus lived with the heavenly realm as his primary perspective.  Storms weren’t a problem because there are no storms in heaven. A little bread and a few fish could feed five thousand because heavenly economics are not limited to what we can see or hold in our hands. The dead are only asleep.  Water can become wine with a simple command or can become rigid enough to walk on.  Jesus didn’t perform magic; he simply knew that he was not limited to natural law because he was a citizen of heaven with the power and authority of his homeland establishing the things he commanded.

We are called to live by that same heavenly perspective.  It’s called faith.  Jesus taught us to pray for God’s will to be done on earth  (the natural realm) as it is done in heaven (the spiritual realm). Whatever God does for his children in heaven, he is willing to do for his children on earth. Heaven comes to earth through faith. “Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (Mt. 21:21-22).

God’s will for his children in heaven is perfect health.  Healing brings that heavenly reality to earth.  Provision is God’s will for his children in heaven.  Prayer provides for his children on earth. Heaven is a “no demon zone.”  Deliverance establishes that reality on earth. The fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, etc. – releases the atmosphere of heaven into this troubled world. If we believe that we are currently citizens of heaven seated with Christ in heavenly realms then we are releasing the manifestations of heaven to earth rather than begging for heaven to do something about this mess.

The apostles experienced the difference in perspectives on the boat in the storm while Jesus slept.  They were living with the perspective that they lived in the natural realm and were terrified of the storm that had power to destroy them.  Jesus slept in the midst of the storm, not because he was exhausted but because he had peace. In a sense, he “owned the storm” because the spiritual realm has power and authority over the natural. Faith is not just believing who Jesus is but also who we are in Jesus. Faith is seeing life through the eyes of the Spirit rather than the eyes of the flesh. Faith is fixing our eyes on what is unseen and believing that if God is for us, no one or no thing can stand against us.

Today let me encourage you (and myself) to view life and even our struggles with a heavenly perspective – not just, “What would Jesus do?” but “What will Jesus do?”

Ask yourself, “What would the Father do in response to a challenge if that challenge surfaced in heaven?”  Then expect his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven on the basis of your prayers, your declarations, and your faith because you are his authorized representative on the earth – loved and empowered by heaven.  Live in the spiritual, walk with authority, and carry the atmosphere of heaven with you today. Be blessed. It’s the Father’s will for you.

In our ministry to brokenhearted people, we obviously see a lot of broken people. If I could identify one theme that runs through the lives of most of these men and women it would be an extreme amount of self-focus.  That self-focus is brought on by pain but it also amplifies the pain.

Think of it this way.  If you have ever gotten up in the middle of the night and tried to navigate your way through the house in the dark, you may have stubbed your toe on something hard and immovable.  If you did, you felt pain shooting up your leg and exploding into your brain.  Suddenly, all you were concerned about was that toe and the throbbing pain that was being broadcast from that little digit at the end of your foot.

In that moment, all you wanted to do was to soothe that toe – rub it, soak it, ice it – whatever.  The lights you left off so as not to disturb your spouse were then on and you were making enough noise to wake the dead or you were clinching your teeth tightly enough to bite through steel. In that moment, if your spouse had asked you to bring him/her a glass of water from the kitchen, you would have totally ignored the request or howled with pain, offended by the fact that your spouse was ignoring your intense anguish enough to even ask for water.

In the moment that makes sense. You are in pain.  Your total focus is on yourself and all you care about is finding relief and for others to acknowledge your pain and to help – or, at least, to express some sympathy. That little scenario has been experienced by many of us. I have also seen two different responses to the injury.  Some simply shake it off, wrap the toe with tape and get on with their day.  Others spend the day checking their toe every few minutes looking for deepening hues of purple and blue. They notice every ache as they walk across the floor and sense the pressure of their shoe against that toe for the very first time.  They begin to wonder if it’s broken or whether they will lose the nail. They tell everyone at the office or at school about their trauma in the dark and show their toe to anyone who will look.

Here is the question.  Is their toe more injured that the person who wrapped it and went on with their day or do they experience more pain because they are totally focused on the toe?  When we go to the doctor and he brings out the needle to give us a shot, we have learned to distract ourselves.  We look away from the needle and think of something else.  In doing so, we reduce the pain we feel because our focus is elsewhere. I believe that emotional pain and past trauma’s can also be amplified if we make it the central focus in our lives.

I’m not saying that emotional pain and brokenness are not real or that they don’t need to be healed.  They do.  Jesus made “healing the brokenhearted” a major focus in his ministry. In our freedom ministries at Mid-Cities we believe it is crucial to walking in freedom.  But the “how” of healing becomes the question. We should also ask, “How do I live while I am being healed?”

Jesus not only came to save us from our sins but to show us how to live healthy, joyful, and significant lives.  The New Testament instructs us to develop an “other” focus rather than a “me” focus in our lives. Our first focus is to be on the Lord.  “Love the Lord thy God with all your heart, soul strength and mind.”  We are then instructed to have an outward focus in caring for others.  In the N.T. we are commanded to love one another, pray for one another, serve one another, teach one another, encourage one another, build up one another, etc.  We are commanded to pray for the sick, seek the lost, and care for the pour and hurting.  All of these force our focus outward.

We are even called to be concerned about social justice issues.  Isaiah speaks for the Lord when he says, “Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?   “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard” (Isa.58:6-8).

Notice that healing is attached to a concern for others and action on their behalf.  The more wounded we are, the more intentional we should be about getting our focus off of ourselves and on to the needs of other people.  When we use our pain to minister to others, healing flows back in our direction.  When we choose to serve others, our pain is not as acute.  God understands our need for healing.  We do need to acknowledge our pain, lift it up to the Lord and ask his Spirit to touch our broken places for healing. We could even do that daily.  But having done it, God’s therapy plan is to shift our focus from ourselves to Jesus and to the needs of others.  We do so trusting God to do the healing he has promised without overseeing his work every minute of the day.

There is power in learning to give God our concerns and even our pain but then shifting our focus to the needs of others. It is the spiritual version of focusing elsewhere while the doctor puts a needle in our arms. It is also the way to emotional health, healing and significant ministry.  It is also the way of becoming more like Jesus. I lost my second wife to cancer after being married for twelve years.  On my way home from the funeral, God put it on my heart to stop and pray for another man whose wife was on the verge of death. It was a healing moment for me as well as for him.  My pain wasn’t the only pain in the world and this man had been married to his wife for fifty years. It helped to put my loss in perspective.  An outward focus does that. If you have been so focused on your own pain that you cannot notice the needs and hurts of others, please choose a different focus today.  It will bless you as much as them.

I always want to hear about books that have impacted the spiritual lives of believers. A few weeks ago I asked those of you who follow this blog to “comment” about books that have been transformative for you.  I’m going to share those responses with you now for some great holiday reading or even gifts.  These are in no particular order other than alphabetical. I asked only for the title and author.  The rest can easily be found on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.  Be blessed.

1. A Lineage of Grace – Francine Rivers
2. Approaching the Heart of Prophecy – Graham Cooke
3. Authority to Heal – Ken Blue
4. Born to Be Free – Tom Vermillion
5. Can You Hear Me? – Tuning In to the God Who Speaks – Brad Jersak
6. Christ the Healer – F.F. Bosworth
7. Dare to Believe – Becky Dvorak
8. Drawing Near – John Bevere
9. Intercessory Prayer – Dutch Sheets
10. Mere Christianity – C.S. Lewis
11. Sacred Marriage – Gary Thomas
12. Smith Wigglesworth on Faith
13. Sons of Encouragement – Francine Rivers
14. Surprised by the Power of the Spirit – Jack Deere
15. What’s So Amazing About Grace? – Philip Yancey
16. Ten Steps Toward Christ – Jimmy Evans
17. The Bait of Satan – John Bevere
18. The Battlefield of the Mind – Joyce Meyer
19. The Blessed Life – Robert Morris
20. The Celebration of Discipline – Richard Foster
21. The Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis
22. The Jesus I Never Knew – Philip Yancey
23. The Screwtape Letters – C.S. Lewis
24. The Supernatural Ways of Royalty – Bill Johnson & Kris Vallotton
25. When Heaven Invades Earth – Bill Johnson

Great books with spiritual themes are like teachers that open up the Word of God to us in ways that we had not seen before.  Often you discover a sentence or a phrase that becomes a “seed thought” for you that takes you to pockets of God’s truth that the author never had in mind, but it was a truth God opened to you. Sometimes the author speaks about a truth or a concept that you had sensed or experienced but didn’t know how to articulate.  After reading the book or the chapter you now have words to talk about what you had experienced.  Other books give us practical ways to pursue more of God and more of his Spirit or an understanding of certain people so that we might share our faith with them more effectively.  Others rekindle a passion in us that once burned brightly but had somehow lost its flame.  The Bible, of course, remains our primary source of light and truth, but books can be like sitting at the feet of teachers who accelerate our understanding and growth in spiritual matters.

Having said that, I am always asking people what books have been transformational for them.  Others ask me the same question.  Some books are classics and some have just recently pooped up on Amazon.  I would like to hear from you about books that were not just an interesting read but that impacted you. Maybe that book created paradigm shifts for you or just blessed your soul in tangible ways.

Would you simply comment on the best books you have read through the years and I will compile that list and post it on this blog soon.  With the holidays coming up, you may be looking for your next great read to snuggle up with in front of the fire. Maybe your small group is looking for their next study. Just give me the title and author of the book(s).  Keep your list to no more than five please.  Be sure the title is accurate so the rest of us can find it in the bookstore or on Amazon. I will add my four or five most favorite books as well.  You might also add a one-sentence descriptor telling us what the primary focus of the book was in case we are not familiar with it!  Thanks and be blessed today. I look forward to hearing from you!

In the fifth chapter of his gospel, John tells us a story that has been told so often that we tend to hurry through it without looking for fresh insights into Jesus.  It’s the story of the man that Jesus healed at the pool of Bethesda.  This was a pool that was known for miraculous healings.  John tells us that a great number of disable people  – the blind, the lame and the paralyzed – would lie around this pool each day. Their belief was that from time to time an angel of the Lord would stir the water and whoever got into the pool first, after the stirring, would be healed.

Jesus visited this pool.  Perhaps, he was simply walking by on his way to another destination in Jerusalem and simply by chance noticed the pool and the people around it.  More than likely, however, his visit was intentional and directed by the Father.  Immediately after this healing, Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing of himself; he can only do what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son does also. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.”

This statement reveals that Jesus was highly attuned to the movement and purposes of his Father.  This quality suggests that Jesus was so focused on living out the Father’s agenda that he had developed a spiritual discernment to clearly sense the leading of the Spirit and the heart of the Father in every situation.  This longing to partner with his Father and to put the Father’s agenda ahead of his own, prompted the Father to show him what we was doing so that Jesus could, in fact, join him in those purposes.

Jesus shows us that a hunger to be totally obedient to the Father and to be lead by the Spirit every minute of the day prompts the Father to gives us eyes to see and ears to hear what he is doing.  One of the reasons Jesus performed so many miracles is that he was never operating outside of God’s purposes for that moment. When Jesus ministered healing to a person or a village, it seems that he was simply joining God in what God had already purposed to do. Since God had already determined to do those things, all of heaven was lined up to move when Jesus declared what the Father had already determined.  Jesus heard the Father, recognized the spiritual activity of the Father, spoke what the Father would have him speak and power flowed.

In this case, the Father apparently directed Jesus to the man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.  Dozens of others surrounded the pool who were also in need of healing but Jesus focused on one.  Finding him at the pool, Jesus asked what seemed to be a question with an obvious answer, “Do you want to get well?”  That question was an important question. As we all know, not everyone truly wants to be healed. Healing in this man’s life would have changed his identity, his routines, his responsibilities, and even the expectations that other’s had for him.  After thirty-eight years he had learned to be totally dependent on others. His entire life revolved around others meeting his needs and spending each day at the pool waiting for the miraculous stir of waters, knowing full well that someone else would always reach the water ahead of him.

After all those years of being “the invalid” he probably wasn’t sure if he could make it in a world where he would be expected to work and meet his own needs. Like a convict who has been in prison so long that he has become “institutionalized,” he wasn’t sure that he could make it on the “outside.”

Even so, Jesus healed him with a command to “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk!”  After a moment of spontaneous healing the man walked. Amazingly the Jewish religious leaders pushed back against this healing because it had been done on the Sabbath.  Religion misses the heart of God and so misses the goodness of God as well.  As a man stood before them who had been healed from nearly forty years of lameness, all they could see was that he was carrying his mat on the Sabbath and, thus, was violating the “rules” established by the religious elite. He had been lame but they were still blind.  Of course, the conversation quickly turned to the one who had done the healing, after all he has also had violated the Sabbath laws.  The healed man had no idea who he was and Jesus had quietly slipped away in the crowd.

Then comes a curious ending to the story.  Jesus found the man he had healed in the temple courts and warned him to stop sinning or else something worse than his lameness might happen to him. Suddenly, the story shifts from a healing theme to a redemption theme.  The man’s biggest problem had not been his inability to walk but a sinfulness that had placed his soul in jeopardy. We are told that the kindness of God leads us to repentance (Rom.2:4).  This intentional healing seems to have been an expression of God’s kindness designed to lead this man to repentance.

The warning issued later by Jesus suggests that the man had not been touched by God’s goodness sufficiently to lead him to repentance, so Jesus nudged him a little more in that direction.  It is possible that his now functioning legs had been used to pursue more of the sin in his life rather than thanksgiving to God.  The hardness of the man’s heart is suggested by the fact that after receiving the warning or rebuke of Jesus, the man hurried to turn him in to the authorities. Because Jesus had confronted him about his sin, even though it was out of concern for his well being, it seems that the healed man sought to punish the very one who had healed him.

So why even heal this man in the first place?  Weren’t there others at the pool more deserving and potentially more responsive to God’s kindness?  Undoubtedly.  But God loves the stubborn, the sinner, and the hard of heart as well.  God wanted to give this man every opportunity to say “yes” to Jesus. Perhaps, he was the one singled out at the pool because he was the one in greatest need of a spiritual healing.  Perhaps, he was singled out because he was right at the tipping point of developing a heart so hard that he would be beyond repentance.

We don’t know what the final response of this man was to God’s kindness.  What we do know is that the heart of the Father and the heart of Christ do not just pursue only those who are wide open to the kingdom of God but they pursue also those whose hearts are hardened by sin and beaten down by the world. Keep praying for the one whose heart you fear is closed to God.  God will seek him out anyway and draw him with both kindness and warning.  It is what love does even for those who don’t love in return.  If that hardened heart and sinful life has belonged to you, be sure that God still believes you are worth saving and is looking for you in the crowd even now.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. (Jn.1:1-5).

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (Jn.1:14).

The apostle John was a bit of a mystic.  He loved the symbolic nuances of scripture and liked to peel the theological onion to find deeper and deeper meanings and truth in God’s word.  He was also the closest to Jesus of all the apostles. He was the one leaning on the Lord at the last supper and the one to whom Jesus revealed his betrayer. He was also the one apostle who stood beneath the cross watching life ebb from the creator of the universe. When the Holy Spirit began to download truths about Jesus that were to be recorded in the gospels, John received the most theological of the downloads that give us insight not only into what Jesus did and said but who he was beyond being the Son of Man.

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Greek word translated as “the Word” in this text is “logos” and carries several related meanings.  It means an expression, a statement, a revelation, wisdom, the external expression of an internal thought, and so forth. If you think about it, Jesus is the visible expression of everything God thinks about us. He is a three dimensional revelation of the mind of the Father towards his creation. Jesus himself said that whoever has seen him has seen the Father (Jn.14:9).

If Jesus is the revelation of God and the expression of the heart and mind of Jehovah, then God surprises us. Who would have thought that the God who led Israel out of Egypt was also humble and gentle? Who would have thought that the God surrounded by Seraphim would be comfortable in the presence of sinners and that they could be comfortable in his presence?  But if Jesus shows us the Father,  then it is true. Who would have thought that the creator of the universe would be willing to sweat, thirst, and suffer mosquito bites for the sake of the spiritually dense (that’s all of us)?  Who would have thought that God Almighty would be moved with compassion so often when he saw hapless crowds or the blind and the lame?  Who would have thought that the high and holy God would be willing to attend weddings and turn water into wine or dance at bar mitzvahs? More than that, who would have believed the God who was a consuming fire on Sinai would have allowed ruthless men to brutalize him and drive nails through his feet for the sake of a fallen race? But there he is.

God surprises us and we are no more surprised than when we see him in Jesus.  Remember his thoughts toward you expressed in the life and heart of Jesus when you pray today.  Remember what lengths he went to so that you could have that conversation.  When you pray for sick loved ones, remember God’s heart for the suffering expressed through every command to “be healed.” Remember and take comfort and encouragement because you have seen the mind of the Father towards you. His name is Jesus.

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. (2 Tim.1:6-7)

Timothy was a young man who, like many of us, tended to discount his gifts, his ability and his influence.  By nature he apparently was loving and gentle and was much more comfortable standing in the shadows than being center stage.  You can imagine traveling with Paul who was bold to a fault and didn’t mind picking a fight with anyone (even Peter) when a principle of faith was on the line. I’m guessing that Timothy’s temperament was so opposite from Paul’s that Paul’s faith, boldness, miracles, and even his academics fueled a great sense of inadequacy in Timothy.

Most of us have felt that inadequacy when we have been around men and women who are world-shakers with “over-the-top” spiritual gifts. As much as possible, I pursue a greater understanding of the Holy Spirit and a greater anointing by going to conferences that are being led some of God’s “generals” in the faith.  It’s a dangerous pursuit because although I may receive the fresh word or revelation I was looking for and although I jumped in line for every impartation, I often go home feeling so spiritually inadequate that I want to check in my Bible and turn every ministry responsibility over to anyone that will take it. After a day or two of hearing their teaching, their insights, their testimonies, and then watching them minister in their gifts, I often crawl back home feeling like a totally inadequate servant of God.

That’s why Paul tells us never to compare ourselves to others because we will end up thinking too much or too little of ourselves. By the grace of God I usually recover in a few days and get on with being who God made me to be for the moment with a vision for more.  But, I can absolutely identify with Timothy.  Paul had to encourage him at times to speak with authority, to stir up the spiritual gifts that had been deposited in him, to step up in his leadership roles, and, at times, to not give into fear.

An amplified translation of the verse above might read, “Timothy, quit standing in the shadows. Quit holding back. Get busy exercising and developing the spiritual gift that was imparted to you through my hands. Step up and use it because God has not given you a spirit of fear or cowardice but of power – the same power that created the universe and that raised Jesus from the dead.  He has also given you a spirit of love and any spiritual gift exercised out of love for God’s people is powerful and life changing. And remember, He has also given you a spirit of sound thinking and self-discipline so don’t let your emotions rule you – especially doubt and fear.”

In Timothy’s case, his fear may not have been the fear of man and much as the fear of inadequacy. I think that form of fear restrains most of us and keeps us from becoming world-shakers ourselves.  We forget that spiritual gifts, like muscles and skills, must be developed and to be developed they have to be exercised.  Too many of us sit back and pray that God will give us a fully developed gift of healing, prophecy, leadership, teaching, worship, etc. and as soon as we feel that anointing settle on us we’ll get out there and start using that gift to change the world. God usually doesn’t operate in that way. To do so would be like giving a nine-year old the keys to a 650 horsepower Shelby Cobra and telling them to take it for a spin whenever he feels like it. Not a good idea.

If you have the Spirit of God in you, then you should have dreams of doing great things in the Kingdom of God because that greatness is in your spiritual DNA. If you have the dream, there is a good chance the Spirit is revealing your potential future and that the gifts are already in you for that destiny.  But they must be exercised, coated with love, and used with wisdom to produce their greatest fruit.

So, let me encourage you.  Stop standing in the shadows being held back by the fear of inadequacy because it is God who makes us adequate.  Let your sound mind rule your emotions and step out.  Fan into flame the gifts that are in you. Start exercising them today.  Don’t worry about making mistakes. You’re growing.  You’re practicing.  It’s always good to go to conferences, read another book, or ask for another impartation.  It’s always good to go after “more,” but God won’t give us more if we are not using what we already have.  And remember, the power that spoke worlds into existence and raised Jesus from the dead is literally resting in you waiting to be activated for those who will not give into fear.