The Five Fold Foot

Are you a member in the body of Christ? Do you long to be useful, supplying those around you? Is it your greatest desire to function in Him, yet you don't see anything? Or are you perhaps satisfied with giving of your money and time, but don't feel comfortable with spiritual function?

I want to exhort you, and encourage! If you have given your heart to the Lord, and are willing to lay down your life for Him, then you will function in the Holy Spirit. He builds the body, His great love, the beautiful bride, through spiritual building. You must be joined together and supplying one another in the Heavenly realm! Anything less than this will not stand for eternity.

If the desire is not in you, and you shrink from speaking out, we must deal with that. But dear ones, it is so easy to do. Pray, asking the Lord for healing in your emotion. For transformation in your will. Ask Him to fill you with the source of life, even the Living Water that can create new things inside of you. You don't have to do this yourself! In fact, He wants you to use His power, His strength to function!

So there is no worry, no anxiety, no fear involved in beginning to function as a member of the body of Christ. He is the one who provides the impetus, and the desire to make it happen. It is not about you being able, but about you letting Him work in and through you.

What does all this have to do with the “Five Fold Foot”? Well, there are many parts of the body. And they serve different purposes. Yet even in each, is there more glory in any part but the head? Is the hand more worthy than the foot? Sure, they are different, and serve different capacities, but it would be ridiculous look to the hand and say, “What a glorious body!”

No, the head is shining, beaming forth. He speaks, and power resonates. We are parts of this body so that He has a display to the world here, in our locality, in this age. And there is no reason to question what role you play, each being infinitely more important than any earthly job. Do not fall into the trap of judging the importance of your place verses someone perhaps more visible.

Paul has a fantastic statement in this regard (1 Cor 12:15):

”If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; it is not therefore not of the body.”

This comes in a larger context, which I encourage you to read. Here however, we will focus on the feet.

Why pick the feet? Well thee is a interesting precedent about feet. In the handing down of the Law as given to Moses, a specific application of the blood was called for (Exodus 29:20).

Then shalt thou kill the ram, and take of its blood, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.

To serve as a priest in this work, the blood put on the big toe? So there is something about having the feet purified, sanctified, washed and ready to work.

The feet were important to the ministry, vital in the service before the Lord. We know about the the five fold ministry of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. And we can remember these as the fingers of the hand.

How is that? Well the thumb balances the whole hand, able to make any one of the fingers useful in grasping, in working. The index finger points, gives direction to the way, points to what needs attention. The middle finger is the longest, reaches out the farthest, beckoning further into the darkness calling those trapped there. The ring finger is where we place the band of matrimony. This signifies the joining of the body together, the preparation of the bride is here. And the pinky holds the page as we read, fills out the hand for complete working.

So these are the men, who have been molded and shaped by the Lord, and given to the church for the building up of the body, for the equipping of the saints to do this building. We absolutely need each ministry in this day. Yet know that a hand with only one finger can grasp very little. And a body with no feet can not move.

Yes, the feet are incredibly important for the body functioning. By them the body moves. The feet are that part in constant contact with the ground. They are in the world, brushing up against the earthly realm constantly. You and I are there saints. We are the feet at times, treading in this realm. And in the body, as the feet, we are incredibly important. We MUST function in the Spirit!

Here is where you can embrace life! You can function in the apostolic way as a big toe. We are all “sent” to bear witness to the world that He lives, and has come into our hearts to save us for Himself, and to grow in us a supply of life for all. The big toe would be one who organizes outreach, balances the other toes and the foot to minister the world.

Perhaps this means a bake sale, or a soup kitchen. It could be a pregnancy class or a golf tournament. Anything that we organize to do as outreach needs those who can “organize”, and they should see that in Him, this becomes life giving work. So all you big toes out there, get serious about letting Him into your work! Lay it all on the altar before the throne and watch the amazing fruitfulness He will bring to your service!

Next comes the prophetic toe. How do we in the feet bring forth prophesy? Do you ever see the emptiness inside of lost ones you are around? Speak to it, speak to the heart about the life that fills up the void. Do you ever hear someone deciding to buy this, or go here, and you think, “Wow, that is a huge mistake.” Well, speak life to that person, share what He reveals to you! None of this means telling people what to do, or blasting off with verses of destruction from Jeremiah! Speak life, ask the Lord to give you life for that person right here and now.

Next is the evangelical toe. What do we normally do? Pray, and pray some more to see the ones we know and care about come to Him. So do that! While you are out and about, and you bump into someone, silently ask the Lord to save them! Another simple thing to do is just love those trapped in darkness. God loves them, and can love them through you! He will lead, even in the simplest way.

For the pastoral walk, be ready to comfort. Be ready to provide that healing balm. And if you see people whose relationships are suffering, talk about bitterness. Talk about jealousy, and resentment. Many times just the simple explanations fo what is happening can open the door for His healing balm, even the Holy Comforter to come in and begin.

And for the teacher out there, even to all of us, be ready with your favorite verse! I don't mean the standard verses that nearly everyone in our society has heard, but a verse that you have embraced. One that He has made real to your life. Give it out, you will know the right moment if you have it ready! He is faithful to prompt us with the suply we store up. We can bring the light into the darkness through the living word. And one way to ensure that it is the living word, is to take what He has made alive in your own heart. How simple is that!

All of these put to gether make up the ministry that is in the trenches. In the dirt and muck of the world. But if you enter in to this service, if you allow yourself to be used by Him, in the body in this way, you have something amazing in store!

To reveal how the supreme importance of the feet, consider this prophetic verse (Deut 11:24):

Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness, and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the hinder sea shall be your border.

This was the promised land, the inheritance. And in picture, it is the inheritance of the Son, even Christ Himself, who has gained us, His own, for a everlasting living temple, even the promised land.

And what shall we say? Let us tread further! Every place His foot shall go, will be made His. As we walk in the body, as the body functions, His claim goes forth upon all the hearts and souls in this age. And that is worked out locally by us, practicing His body life together.

I leave you with a mystery and a blessing. There is a glorious verse, as the Lord prepared Himself for the greatest ministry ever (John 13:12):

So when he had washed their feet, and taken his garments, and sat down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?

There is much in this single act, many things to ponder, but I would ask you, who were the first members of His body? What did He take special interest in symbolically? It was the lowest part, even the feet. Yes, He will clean personally the feet of the body. I bless you with the beautiful sentiment from this thought (Psalm 119:59):

I thought on my ways, And turned my feet unto thy testimonies.

Think on what you do each day, even the simple things. Turn those over to Him, and let Him make you a 'minister' of the foot. It is a high honor to be in that low place. He will reward you beyond measure!

The Soul of Man in Life and Image

There are two visions of the soul here, one that directs our walk moment by moment, and one that turns us to the ministry of Christ in a deep way. Let me begin by saying that these were used by the Lord in the last few days, as living examples of our condition. May all who read here find Him who can change us for the purposes of Glory.

I requested that a few of the dear saints I meet with lay hands on me and pray for mental healing. I have always had mild dyslexia and seasons of ADHD, but learned how to work through those. However, my loving doctor, Jesus, revealed that the chasing mental patterns I have, of free thinking and analysis, are limitations to prophesy.

He needs us to quiet down inside, and get in the movement of life. It is our choice to speak, our exercise of faith to release life into this realm, but to do that with power means transformation of our minds. So as they were praying, one of the little ones dropped a puzzle piece on the floor right next to me.

I realized at that moment how the pieces of our souls, the bit in need of transformation are like puzzle pieces, and we should just gather them up to place on the alter. Burn them up. Let God have them and He will replace them with something far more precious.

Later on, I was pray walking, and the Lord revealed the further meaning of the puzzle pieces. I had been assembling together the puzzle of my life for years. We all do it, and I mean life filled Christians foremost. We want to have a life that reflects the values we know of, displays to the world kindness and love. Gives, teaches, blesses, and every other good thing you can think of.

But that is just it, "you can think of" means that the natural man comprehends this goal. Here is your first clue that something isn't quite right. What God does can not be replicated. It can not be discovered by the natural man, or emulated. I saw a vision of that puzzle, my own puzzle from the past, with a few pieces missing.

We get close. We have everything together. I served in the church, studied the bible, set up the chairs, greeted the saints. I witnessed on streetcorners, bought lunch for the homeless, gave my time and money to ministry. I lived with the brothers, praying constantly, dealing with personality conflict, dealing with many rough edges.

I prophesied, spoke in tongues, flowed in the Spirit in leading worship. But the puzzle wasn't quite done. Some pieces just wouldn't stay in place. And some were on the floor. This is the vision of my past, that God just revealed to me. And as I looked down at the puzzle, was it me? Perhaps, but in my spirit I heard Adam. Then Cain, Jacob, Esau, the Israelites in the wilderness.

I was floored, and had to laugh. We work so hard at some things. Preparing ourselves, learning new skills, making sacrifices to get somewhere. And that somewhere is a 'good image', even a 'good self image'. Not even for ourselves consciously! For all the right reasons, yet the result is the same.

Oh, I knew about the natural man, understood that I could do nothing of my own that would stand before God. Yet do we just sit in a puddle of self pity on the floor? Especially when there are deep things that we refuse to go near hindering our walk with the Lord? No, we 'move on', living life, doing what we can, finding what life we can and trying to put things together.

Let me use a sharp scalpel now. You have places inside where the pieces are together, and you're satisfied with that 'image'. You see it every day, are used to it, comfortable with it, and have no idea how dead it is. WE HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED INTO HIS DEATH! Any 'strength of character' you may have that is not of Him, is not making it into the Kingdom.

It can be a pleasing image. You may even have all the pieces together. I never got close. But it is DEAD! This image can not move in the spirit. And if you don't let go of the pieces, you can not receive the replacement. Yeah, He puts back something, but it is not just 'made in the likeness of God', it is alive with the essence of Christ.

Go on a hunt for these puzzle pieces. Ask God to smash the thing and get out the flamethrower. Oh, you may feel pain, but that is to His Glory! He will heal, transform, rejuvenate, and fill you with the living reality of Jesus. Not some picture. Pray fervently about these matters. If you can not see the need, you are in darkness. Heed this warning! There is no profit in the dark.

Now to the life in the soul. We have a conscious presence in the now. We are alive, and exist in constant awareness to one level or another. This awareness is like a tablespoon of liquid in a tea cup. If you looked in the cup, the bottom would be our conscience, and around the sides would be the areas of will, emotion, and consideration. Lets put the handle of the cup on the side of will. That third is connected to the whole container, i.e. when we decide, the other parts turn and move.

This little bit of liquid covers the bottom, and touches all three sides when the cup is level. If we are level, at peace, our soul is guided by the will with input from the mind and heart. And underneath is a tickle, an alert zone, the conscience, to flag us when any of the sides go awry.

There are a few cases now to consider. For most people, the cup is tilted. When tilted there is three states we inhabit in our souls. The liquid no longer touches all three sides, just two. Try it out, with a real cup and see! Even worse, if we stay that way, over time part of our consciences dries out and no longer functions correctly.

Here are the common states, will with emotion, will with thinking, and emotion with thinking. Consider politics. A third of the voters are driven by emotion, and use their will to vote. Another third use their thinking, then 'will' vote accordingly. Even those without the will active are here, in the vast numbers of people who don't vote.

If you begin to embrace this dichotomy, you will find so many areas of modern culture match the principle. But we are here to find God, and His life. So I saw this vision of the cup, and there was a hand on the handle. Our will can chose to be guided by Him! Our cup will be upright and stable. Furthermore, He will begin to fill the vessel with more fluid.

When the cup is full of life, there is no need to worry about whether it gets tipped this way or that! Liquid always touches every side, and the conscience is never dry. Oh, he will pour us out at times, to clean the cup. But only to refill with even more potent life. Even Eternal Living Water that has none of the old taste!

Embrace these metaphors, dig into them a bit and He will use them. You will find living guidance through these. Lord, may Your word be our guide, may it burn through the dead wood in us. Torch out all the hidden places, all the empty pictures. Reveal Your Glory in this work to every reader! Transform each one by the indwelling Spirit, who sustains our very existence. Forever worthy of praise!

The New Kingdom in Egypt: Stephen Interprets Joseph Perfectly

I must shout praises to my God, who NEVER leaves us, or fails to provide! I woke up fairly empty of thought this morning. Just a few sweet songs in my head. Then I sat down to 'do something', work, read, who knows. But all seemed empty. So I decided to write. But even that seemed empty. The next step down from there is outlining, which should be something I can do in my sleep, without strain or thought.

Hence I turned to my outline for the series on Stephen's indictment of the stiff necked, and went to the verses I had next. Oh how wonderful is the Spirit of truth! It is not by our efforts that the pictures of our Messiah are revealed. The magnificent counselor, the abiding assistant, the righteous guide gets all of the credit!

I didn't even read the whole passage before seeing the details that were missing in my mind! How wonderful! Thank you Lord! Now, let us outline the steps here very briefly:

So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. (Genesis 21:2)

And his brethren envied him; but his father kept the saying in mind. (Genesis 37:11)

And there passed by Midianites, merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they brought Joseph into Egypt. (Genesis 37:28)

thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou. (Genesis 41:40)

This is the path Joseph walked.

First there is the promised son. Sarah was barren, and old, yet God opened her womb miraculously. The lineage of promise is established by God. Yet we know that the righteousness attributed to Abraham was obtained before the covenant, that the descendants of the promise are pictured here in the physical, but the descendants in righteousness of Abraham are of God by faith.

Then Isaac has a son Jacob, who is Israel by the promise. Jacob is very fruitful, yet loves his son Joseph much. Joseph's brothers become envious of him. This is quite important! They were desiring the reality of their fathers love. The present situation of closeness and importance to Jacob. And by the dreams of Joseph, and his interpretation, they rejected the word of God, even the position of coming under Josephs rule.

God was moving, speaking forth His will and plan. Yet they rejected God, rejected the council of the Lord. One can argue that Joseph spoke out these dreams and interpretations out of his own desire, but that would be wrong. Consider that personally, he would have been aware of the implications. And it is doubtful that he intended to 'rub it in' against his brothers. But these prophetic visions were of God, and came to pass. He brought forth the word of God!

Out of this envy they acted. Envy spurred violent action, even the grave sin of killing an innocent brother. Cain could not accept the reality of God welcoming Abel. Instead of turning to God, he killed his brother. Here are more brothers, full of the same spirit, ready to commit murder. But the will of God is unthwartable.

Intervention arrives, and then the sale of Joseph into Egypt. So in 'death', he does survive. And perseveres, growing strong in the Lord. Then becomes the very ruler over all of Egypt, and the house of the King. Joseph became the King over the land and Pharaohs house. The reality and picture of the 'Lord of lords'!

At this point let us return to Stephen, to the nuclear intensity of his speech (Acts 7:11-14):

Now there came a famine over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent forth our fathers the first time. And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph's race became manifest unto Pharaoh. And Joseph sent, and called to him Jacob his father, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.

On the surface this seems like a simple retelling of the story. There is no "you are like this" or "thus says God to you", just simple piecing together of events that transpired.

In fact, each of the listeners could have made the same connection, constructed the same quick overview of this section of Genisis. But something else is at work here! I am sure you picked up on the envy part. These men who Stephen was addressing had embraced envy, crafted it into action, and by that action plotted and then executed the Messiah.

Even scholars could grapple naturally with the metaphor of Joseph as Messiah. Chosen of the Father, put to 'death' by his brethren, revealed as the Lord of lords. Even the tightest literalist must acknowledge many parallels here. But there is something much more explosive. I never realized until this morning how the 'pace' of Stephen actually emphasizes a critical event.

When he declares "Now there came ...", I believe Stephen is making a paradigm shift. He deftly established the Messiah as a white hot fuse, and now is going to unload the main charge. It all hinges on three things. The identity of Pharaoh, the 'first time', and the 'second time'.

Pharaoh is in our imaginations many things. But this is the word of God. And if we replace the term with simply 'ruler of all Egypt', or even 'King of Egypt', some of the imagination fades away. But consider carefully the verse quoted above in Gen 41:40, the King has given over the authority to Joseph over all Egypt, and the Kings household. Let me wax prophetic and transliterative for a minute. Here is a restatement: Pharaoh (King of Egypt (the world), and by the term Pharaoh, the embodiment Great House) gave all authority in his house (the ruling realm, 'heaven', place of the throne) and over all Egypt (the world, the earth) to Joseph (the messiah figure).

Now we are getting closer! Do you see it coming? OK, the first time is signified by Stephen as one when there was great famine and Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt. Lets do this free form again, he heard there was life available in the realm where the anointed ruled, but Jacob knew not the ruler personally. Notice how Stephen wastes no time on the 'first time'? Because it was particularly obvious to those under this 'first time', those under the Law. The Law did not allow for one to stand in the presence of God. Even Moses fading reflection of the glory could not be looked upon.

They did not know Joseph, the very brother that they thought was dead, now ruled over life, even the source of life for the nations. And the Pharisee did not recognize that the man, Jesus, whom they delivered up for crucifixion, had arisen, ascended now to the throne. "All authority in Heaven and Earth has been given to me."

When they went the first time, when they received the Law, it preserve them, but did not end in life. The end of transgression, the result of rejecting the counsel of God is death. No man, no people, no one beside Christ can satisfy the Law. Without that righteous essence, the Law results in death. And that is what led to the 'second time', the need for sustaining life. The need for God's own provision for us.

As Stephen stated, "... at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren ..." It is especially brilliant that it implies revelation, divine control over the actions of Joseph. And then how wonderful is this part where his race became manifest unto Pharaoh! Through Joseph (the Messiah) those of his race, i.e. of the same blood, became known to the Authority. We are in Him, and He is in the Father, and the Father is in Him, and He in us! I have no words to convey how magnificent is our God! Mysterious in His timing, but perfect in all He does!

"Then Joseph sent, and called to him ..." What is this sent? Yes, Joseph sent messengers to his family. And called them to come and dwell where he was. This is a knife blade slashing into the hearts of the listener! It is the Word Manifest! Who is the messenger? Stephen is in this case. What is he doing? Calling to the natural descendants, calling to the rebellious house. Calling out any remnant that might possibly come to the Lord.

Can you see it? Stephen is preaching the GOSPEL in perfection. With love he is calling out to the descendants of Jacob, to the whole house of Israel, "Come to the Messiah!" Yet at the same time, this is the "article of destruction", the document signed with Stephens blood from God that the stiffed necked reject.

Stephen encapsulates in this section of his speech the two covenants, the order of God, and the source of life. The intensity of the Spirit in our brother that went before us is incredible. Filled with the Spirit indeed! All at once he teaches, preaches, and prophesies, while displaying the face of a holy angel. And at the heart is still love, even God's love that these ones would turn to Him!

Oh how our Lord loves us. How perfect is our God! Lord you are so much higher than all we could ever know. Your wisdom is immeasurable! May you be forever praised in the assembly of the faithful! Let this small piece of Your work in me be to Eternal Glory for Yourself! Be glorified!

To Stand in the Counsel of God

I was lightly reading through Jeremiah (23:22), and this verse pierced my mind:

"But if they had stood in my council, then had they caused my people to hear my words, and had turned them..."

This struck me in such a way. I want to stand in the counsel of God. To be clothed with the Holy Counselor. To have the King before me, the righteous judge.

That is all fair and well, but the reality is my drifting mind. I must ceaselessly submit my thoughts to the Spirit, laying down my imagination, my inner voice. For He does speak, and reveal that which is life. And we are to deliver that to the body, yielding up what portion we have of eternal life.

However, I recently received instruction from the Lord concerning a brother. I struggled with the guidance, weighing it, desperately not wanting to act of my own volition. And He confirmed the message multiple times. Yet, then I struggled with the authority, as if I have any, of the request from the Lord. My mind created this possibility, and that possibility.

I submitted my mind to the Lord again, and He gave me peace, for a while. But the request still stood, and He pushed my faith forward, to where my mind is grasping, fully uncomfortable with the ripe fruit in the spirit. Then this beautiful verse! There were false prophets speaking their visions and words, appeasing the people, proclaiming peace in their day.

Yet God had called up destruction for the rebellious. And He revealed such a word to them. To stand in His counsel. I can not stand at all without the power Jesus wields within me. He has conquered the flesh and the rulers of this world. By returning again and again to the source, to the power He has inside of us, we can subdue the soul, cause it to be still. We can stand in the counsel of God. We can bring forth the word, even the word which will turn hearts.

There is a perfect companion verse in Proverbs (19:21):

There are many devices in a man's heart; But the counsel of Jehovah, that shall stand

Oh the devices in our souls! My mind would steer in random directions, drifting this way and that. Yet His counsel will stand. Immovable. Never changing. It is perfect, it is established from the foundation of the world. If we, by the power of the High Priest, enter into that eternal direction, that everlasting guidance, we will see Him Glorified!

As with verses like this, I looked around for some other examples, and found something wonderful. Paul testifies to the call on his life with this word:

For I shrank not from declaring unto you the whole counsel of God.

Is it shrinking to fall back into our souls? Our words verses the counsel of God?

Lord stand us up, that we would not shrink. Stand us up in your counsel, bring forth your word in power and grace. Stand up in us Lord, put the covering of Spirit upon us. Let us be dead to this world, and fully alive in You, as You live in the Father. Let me stand in Your counsel, for Your people, to Your eternal Glorification.

The Messenger of Acts 6:15

Delivered to the council. What can we liken this to in our day and age? We have the security of balanced government. A general public acceptance of law and order. There is nowhere in the Western world where you could be accosted publicly, falsely accused and then put to death in one fell swoop. And, in even greater context, over a free speech issue. A public declaration of religious freedom.

This would be similar to you going down to the city hall, in say: Stafford, England; Hastings, New Zealand; or Nanticoke, Canada. All cities with populations on the order of first century Jerusalem (about 60,000). At city hall you would make your declaration, to those passing by, that in the future we would never have to pay fines, and that for certain, this building was coming down.

That is a very gross simplification of course. I am not here to parallel legal systems, or societal changes. Just give you the flavor of scale, and context. Free speech, even inciting a movement that threatened the authority of the religious government, that is what made the Pharisee fearful. They loved power, prestige, even loved the Law itself. But they did not know God, or His Son. Furthermore, they did not know His messengers either.

Imagine you at the city hall telling everyone about how they can be free of fines, and taxes. Then all the suits and ties come out and drag you inside to a conference room, where they will interrogate you, then stone you to death. We don't live in the same world saints. God has led us forward societally. Oh we still have the poor. And we still have the Pharisee. We have the legalists, idolaters, magicians and the like.

Sin is still there for every individual, in every age. But God has blessed us, made us fruitful in the physical as well as the spirit. Now, on earth, there are places, cities, kingdoms and countries where this could happen. And does. Many Christians give up their lives each year for the gospel. Yet we are largely insulated from that in our world.

Some of us have become fat spiritually. Fat and lazy till we can not move in the spirit at all. We sit in our pews, listening to what God can do for us this week, giving our money. Then back to the couch, where we waste away the precious hours left in amusement, denying that He wants to work through us. Oh, God isn't going to call everyone to perform such a singularly magnificent display of Christ as Stephen did. But He is calling, no, He commands each of us to lay down our lives for the body.

The only way to do that is to function as a member locally. Stephen was chosen to wait tables. And in a high place in the Spirit for that ministry. No, not everyone is capable of doing that. You must be filled with the Spirit first, then recognized by the body. Do you see it? You will get no where without being filled with the Spirit. From glorious martyr to 'lowly' table help, any job in the Kingdom has the same requirement, being filled. To get that means desperately wanting Him, like you have never wanted anything else. If you don't have this desire, just ask Him to transform your emotions. He is faithful.

They looked upon him, "fastened" their eyes on him. I like to think that the context here indicates that they could not look away. The Spirit came upon Stephen to the point where it emanated from his being. The window to his heart, his face, was so clear that he appeared as a holy messenger.

If I plunked you out of your chair right now, and set you down in front of the mayor of your city, and the chief of police, plus a few councilmen, then accused you of plotting the destruction of city hall, what would you do? Deny the accusation? Get extremely nervous? Or let loose with a prophetic word so sharp it drove the listeners to madness?

Yeah, I have a hard time imagining it too. But I can get that sense, that taste, the gentle breezy sensation of the Spirit, with infinite power underneath. I can see where Stephen tapped into the Lord, even in my own heart. He stood up in the power of Christ to the subduction of his own soul, his own mind, desire, choices. And let the invisible wind guide. I can only perceive a rough sense of this, but its there. Do you sense it?

God wants to send messages to the lost. To those in the nations trapped by darkness. And He will cleanse you, and fill you, and use you do deliver that word. Let us ask for it together. Lord, fill us with Your Spirit. Fill us until we have nothing but the glowing image of a holy messenger to present to the world. We believe it, accept that it is Your plan. Do it in us for Your Glory!

The Fervent Natural Man

Here is a short thought in the lead up to Stephen's incredible indictment. I want to look at one verse:

"But there arose certain of them that were of the synagogue called the synagogue of the Libertines, and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen."

There is a whole study right in this verse, but lets just consider one aspect, what dispute and why.

Stephen was out preaching the word apparently, with power and grace. And working wonders among the people. But what was the dispute? He must have said something seriously piercing. We know that it was not a condemnation of foreign Jews. He is currently working to feed the widows of those foreign Jews who have turned to the Lord.

Perhaps there is more to what he is preaching than simply "Follow Jesus." Whatever it was (and I will speculate in a bit), it stirred up the synagogues of foreign Jews to action against him. Why didn't the temple priests go after Stephen? Were they afraid of the followers? Fearful of the power that the twelve displayed? Or simply wanted this new movement to run its course. We do not know, but the foreign Jews in these synagogues were ready for action.

My contention is along these lines. These are converts, or descendants of converts, or descendants of Jews taken to foreign lands who have returned to follow God. There is a natural desire to excel, to be as good a Jew as the Hebrews in Jerusalem and Judah. To prove to themselves that they are just as fervent a follower of God as any other Jew. And in this, they hold Jerusalem, and the temple, in a high place within, beyond the practical, experiential regard of a Hebrew.

In this, it would be very offensive to hear the Olivette Discourse. This is what I believe Stephen had embraced as part of his message. Clearly the disciples believed the Lord's greatest prophecy. Yet it had not occurred at this time. But we don't hear very much preaching of it. The focus of the scripture is rightly upon the reconciliation ministry of Christ, not the judgment. But at this time period, the Spirit was moving Stephen at least to call out in the streets with a word of power.

Here is my contention. When the groups handed Stephen over, and sent false witnesses up against him, it was not that the witnesses falsely proclaimed what he had preached. They were plants, 'trustworthy' men, of repute who could bring a charge with weight. The charge itself was spot on. They considered what he had been contending with them, considered carefully the words of Stephen.

What was this charge? What terrible thing did Stephen speak against 'this place' (the temple) and the law? Here is the beautiful accusation, in which they perceive the nature of the Messiah, and rejected Jesus as that, "... that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered unto us."

You better believe that was what Stephen preached! Moses custom provide for the atonement of sins by sacrifice at the temple. Moses custom encompassed the practices of natural life to follow God. But did not lead to personal experience of God for all the people. And the end of the Law was death. No man could meet the requirements. Preaching Jesus as the Messiah is preaching the change in custom.

We have a new way. We have a freedom to live with God here, and serve His purpose with power and strength in a new life. Not to attempt perfection by the adherence to laws and customs, but to seek the source of life every day. That life which automatically embodies the obedience to God. Turn today, and find that life in the Messiah!

Now, the other part, about destruction. Do we think that these false witnesses, correctly describing the gospel in one aspect, were making something up when they accused Stephen of preaching the coming destruction of the temple? Of course not! He is just speaking what Jesus spoke! Stephen was called up, rose up, and the Living Word inhabited him and spoke! This is prophetic ministry at its finest.

Jesus foretold the greatest prophesy of all time. He spoke of His ministry, His resurrection, and then His judgment upon the old system. He said no stone would be left upon another. Within one generation. In the context of the Hebrew, that was the heart of the whole religion. Now they scoffed, discounted Him, accused Him, and crucified Him. And nothing had happened yet.

But Stephen touched a nerve again. Perhaps among the foreign Jews because they had not hardened themselves against the believers of the 'new way'. Perhaps because they wanted to be even more fervent than other Jews. And it may have been that they had a personal deep connection to the idea of the temple, to the core of Judaism, beyond the practical experience of it daily. It was built up in them from afar, without living it, then they returned. Returned to find these ones preaching its destruction, even this 'upstart prophet', who believes that the Messiah is alive.

There is great power in the gospel. And that word is for today. It is a invitation to a new life. A free gift of incomparable price. But it is also a prophesy of the destruction of the natural. We hear the word today. We hear the voice of Stephen in those filled with the Spirit and wisdom around us. The word goes forth to us today.

That word is a condemnation of your natural man. The cross means destruction of your personal temple. Your practices of selfishness. Your own strength, your own way. It will not stand before God. But he has baptised us unto His death! He took on that destruction in its entirety! The working out of that over the course of your life is a constant reality, but the eternal truth is that you are a new creation!

So we can learn here, about ourselves. We will hear the word sometimes, and with a fervency perhaps we were not aware of in ourselves, reject it. Oh, it has happened to me! The imagination is full of things we hold on to, things with no value to us or God, but we are so attached to them. And we react, we accuse the messenger, we squirm and squeal like little pigs up for slaughter.

But He is there. When you see the peace and glow on the messengers face. When you sense that foreboding emptiness. That withdrawal of comfort in your heart. It is time. Time to fall down on your knees, prostrate yourself before God. Claim Jesus as your sacrifice. Embrace the spiritual reality of what He did for you. Oh the transformation! And the amazing outpouring of grace.

Our natural man is a foreigner in this place. We dwell in the New Kingdom. The natural man can not enter. But he can experience transformation! And at times this becomes critical, but God is there to hold our hand, to carry us over. Praise God!

A Man of Completion

This will start a series on one of the most amazing people in the scriptures. The word is worked out in this man to the point where he reflects the life and spirit of our Lord. He is the unseen spearhead of the scattering. The natural man can not see his true ministry. Even the depths of his walk are difficult to access as a faithful follower. He is the organic manifestation of the working Body of Christ. In his story, we have a example of what to expect, of how God will find those that serve, and how He will raise them up for His glorious purpose.

Have you guessed who I am speaking of? It is remarkable that his name appears in the scripture exactly seven times (ASV). The number of completion. And he was of the chosen seven. Now you know? Yes, it is Stephen, "a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit..." I will be thinking about his amazing oration against the stiff necked later, for now let's just introduce some points to ponder.

He was initially selected to perform a ministry that I find quite interesting. There was a argument about groups of widows not receiving the supply. Now, do we know what the disciples did with the money they collected? Not much is known. But it is clear that they had funds, perhaps ample funds to provide for needs. Judas pilfered some of these even. So while the Lord ministered in person, performing miracles, and healing, plus signs and wonders, He led a group that was buying food for the hungry, meeting needs of the poor, perhaps many other things.

This also indicates that there were many who gave money to the Lord, personally, during His ministry before the cross. The scripture does not emphasize any of that, and I believe for a divine reason. Man becomes religious in his charity, easily convincing himself of the proper action, and then deriving satisfaction from that, all without one ency weensy bit of eternal life or faith. Dead works, however good they appear.

Yet there was one thing the Lord spoke, about true religion. True religion was taking care of widows and orphans. No mention of stained glass. No mention of building funds. No mention of anything man could accomplish on his own, except this. The least glorious of all from a certain perspective. But the very heart of God. He wants to restore family! His family. Widows have no husband, orphans have no father. He wants to bring that into their lives.

This true religion is the physical picture of the people of God at that time. Jerusalem had become separated from God. Married to the law, and its end, death. Judah was a fatherless child. The people of God were in need of family restoration. Jesus fulfilled the ministry of this true religion.

Yet in Acts, with this example, it appears that the group of believers had done literally as the Lord spoke. They had a ministry of providing for the widows. There is a beauty in this, even as a seed of true service in the body of Christ. The groups began to argue over who received this ministry, furthermore, the Apostles apparently were performing the task themselves. So the Apostles were neglecting the Greek Jews in a sense, and taking the Lord perhaps in a litterally excessive way as well.

By this apparant literalism, division came into the body. Now, that in no way means that we should not minister to widows and orphans. Or the poor, sick, needy, or any other person. It doesn't mean we should neglect building funds or putting beautiful stained glass windows in those buildings. No, what it means is that we need to follow the life in the body, follow the flow of eternal life in our midst. Not to cling on mentally to what we think is correct.

The Spirit was preparing them to be sent out all over the land. The gospel was going to go forth. Yet they still were not preaching the gospel to gentiles. The twelve, and those in the body in Jerusalem did not consider practically yet that the Lord was the sacrifice for all man, the way to God for all peoples. Not in my belief, by overt racism or elitism. Some may have had those attitudes, but not many. No, it was in following the Lord with the faith that they had.

Social separation, cultural differences, attitudes and opinions are already in all of us. We don't overtly live by them, but we inadvertantly discriminate by them. And this is something that the Spirit highlights in us as we grow. We have a lifetime of transformation ahead. So did the apostles, none were perfect.

Yet corporately Spirit was moving, preparing the ground for the believers to be scattered, for the seeds to be sown. That flow was unstoppable, and cultural ideas, hereditary elitism, sect rivalry even, was not going to get in the way. No individuals level of spritual maturity in the core of the group, even among the twelve, was a hinderance. This work does not depend on individual men, even dedicated spiritual men chosen by God.

So they did what we would do. They went before the Lord. And the result was that it seemed good for the leadership to devote more time to prayer and study, teaching and preaching, than serving tables. So they asked that the body select seven from among itself to perform this ministry of waiting tables. Specifically "... seven men of good report, full of the Spirit and of wisdom ..." To wait tables?

Here is something that we need to accept. God wants you to serve. And what that service is may seemingly be the lowest of tasks. Yet the apostles perceived it to be such a weighty task that they wanted highly qualified men to do it. The very finest in the body, to wait tables. Now, the Lord had indicated this was the heart of true religion. And these were the members in the body with the deepest needs, the most painful wounds in the soul.

If you can see with new eyes, if your spirit is awakened by the Holy Spirit, you will know that it was of the greatest importance to have solid men ministering this way. And seven of them. A complete group. A team with clean lives, Spirit led, and with discernment. How do you see the ministries you are involved in? Are they exciting? What are you experiencing?

Test what you do in ministry by this. Is it a small group of people who live cleanly and honestly? Are they full of the Spirit? Full of wisdom? And foremost of all, chosen by the body? Notice that the Apostles did not chose, the body did. Notice that there was supreme importance concerning character and spiritual function. Tested manifestation of the anointing by the body. All of this to wait tables...

God is no respecter of mans organizations or offices. And by that I mean in the cultural church. And He has ministry, activities close to His heart, which appear as foolishness to the natural man. We can miss the mark so easily, by what we deem important. We judge who is worthy of support, discriminating against some other need. Just as these ones picked the Hebrew over the Greek Jew.

By our judgment the body is divided. This is the true work of the enemy. To fight against that we must unify and meet the needs by faith, from within the body. God revealed the path of true practical ministry right here. Lets review it:

Leadership must recognize division in the body. Call the disciples together and meet exposing this division. Seek for those who are recognized by the body as stable functioning members in the Spirit. Pray and lay hands on them to do the work.

What happened? The word of God increased! Great numbers were added! Many of the priests obeyed! What is this? From waiting tables? Many discount these verses as having anything to do with the ministry to the widows. But I believe if we want to see fruitfulness, it is the functioning body of Christ that bears that fruit. If the body is divided, we can not function. All aspects of our task are connected intimately together.

We can not just have "a great worship band", or "pastor Joe who really brings the word", and "our weekly soup kitchen" and expect the movement of God's power in our midst. It is the unified Body of Christ in a locality, practically working, that brings the power. It was in one city, one group, one fellowship. Oh, for certain they met in separate places. There were walls of culture, gender, race, experience, many different walls even then.

However, division is not the same thing as walls. Grumbling against one another is division. Separation of faith. And the Spirit highlighted the critical nature of that division. It was not about the ultimate religious value of ministering to widows. Even the apparent discrimination was not the central focus. It was the division. And when they came together, addressed the need in a spiritually organic way, the body was unified and became extremely fruitful.

And here is where God releases the bombshell! The Lord fires the first shot in the coming judgment of the Mosaic dispensation. And that nuclear bomb is in the form of a man. It reads: "And Stephen, full of grace and power, wrought great wonders and signs among the people."

Notice that it wasn't Peter, or John, or any of the other twelve selected for this task. For certain they have their own unique places. And some go on to be martyrs, some bring forth the scriptures, others spread the Spirit and word. But when it cam time to seriously unload in the Spirit, it was by a virtually unknown player. A faithful table waiter that was full of the Spirit and of wisdom. And became full of grace and power. Then began to work great wonders and signs among the people.

Can you grasp this saints? The unified body, of one faith, released the power of Him practically, and that power was pointedly manifest in Stephen. He is not the only one working miracles, prophesying, moving in the gifts. But by simple faithfullness, and ministering to heal the hearts of widows, he has become a supremely potent weapon that God takes up.

Do you want to see the power of God? The life in me cries out for that manifestation! How does it come about? By the practical practice of the body. By locally moving in the Spirit to unify the body. Not by fixing everything that is broken. Not by what we 'know' to be service. Not by this ministry or that ministry. It matters little about what trappings there are, which building we meet, what the sign says on the door. The central concern is of a COMPLETE body localy, fuctioning in the Spirit.

To get there we must examine our hearts. Do you want to see the power of God? It happens when we practice being the body. Lord fill me with your Spirit, to be one who is full of the Spirit! Lord heal and transform my mind, make me one full of wisdom! Let me obey You, and walk in Your Grace, that the report about me would be good. And beyond all that I can ask, build us together now, that Your power will go forth. That You will have many come to You by the body functioning locally. Open our eyes to see You right where we live. Be glorified forever!

Folly in the Church

My heart is torn within me. There is a deception within the believers of today. Drawing away their strength, wasting their time, stunting their growth. Lord awaken within all who would read this a fire, burning up the doctrines of man. For they have infected the faithfull, pulled them from following You with their complete being.

The Lord has spoken "Heaven is my throne, the earth is my footstool." Do we not believe this? Where do you want to be? Before the throne? Or embroiled in the constructions of man? The earth here, dear saints, is not simply the dirt. The physical. Is God concerned with the physical? Is He a environmentalist? Do you lessen the supreme gift He gave man of a free will? And by that the desire of His heart to have man as a family? A people that would call upon Him, love Him openly and by choice?

Yet you judge what is important, weighing the nations of man, the events of history as significant to God. There is only one event that is significant, and that is the laying of the foundation of His family. The ministry of Christ before the Father, interceding on our behalf. Opening the way to eternal life with God, before the throne.

Yet you want eternal life here on earth, by some imagination of how He will bring about judgment of all you deem important. You want to govern the earth by the example you see before you, by believers in this office or that, ruling for eternity. Oh, I believe in the end of all things. In the final judgment. I believe we will rise at His call.

But why dear ones, do you persist in deciding how that will come about? Why do you focus on this realm? Looking for signs, praying for what you believe to be the beginning of the end? Exerting yourself, preparing yourself for a transformed earth? What a colossal mistake to focus on these things. Dear ones, do you not feel it? Do you not read it in the word? Every act, every step of the way, He is calling, desiring man to turn to Him.

We have no need of any other purpose. If you work for God, you work to build His family, not for what you think is appropriate as the coming judgment. If you live for a glorious eternity in His presence, then work to get in His presence now, and to bring others. Saints, if you have been anointed by the Holy Spirit, I challenge you to deeply seek His highest purpose.

The life in me, the very Spirit of God, leaps to serve the saints. It longs to worship God for ever before the throne, in the Holy city, in the uncountable number who have become descendants of our Father. That life is ever pressing me forward, pushing me toward a fuller expression of His fullness. It thrives in fellowship, grasps onto the faith in those I meet with. That Spirit burns my foolishness, torches away vain thoughts and emotional folly.

And that same Spirit brings great pain to my heart when I see dear ones placing their hope in this realm. Why do you long for the so called end times? The Spirit in me longs for the growth of Christ NOW! For the salvation of those around me, for the service of the body in this age and locality. What benefit is there in living for a day of judgment? Are you baptized into His death? Then you must live by His life. Of what concern is it to you how or when all things come to a close?

I will tell you now, the deceiver is at work in these doctrines. Giving credence to physical locations. Causing beloved saints to value heredity, culture, and the governments of man as somehow special to God. The essence of this draws one to look towards wars, famines, and disasters. Looking towards the physical Israel as somehow special. As some importance to God.

God loves each and every man. He paid a very high price, unknowable to you or I, so we could access Him. And He fulfilled His promise to the physical descendants of Abraham. He came to them first. Done. The door is open. All can walk into the presence of God. Praise God for all Eternity! The promise is fulfilled.

Have you fallen into a trap? Do you think God wants to save Israel more than Syria? Or Ethiopia? Or Japan? Any other place? Do you think He cares about a physical temple? Do you not know that you are the temple? You have been tricked, duped and led down a path of denial. Yes, denying the extent of His work. If you are His temple, do you then believe He looks someplace else? Is a Jewish reconstruction of some physical place any more important than a Budhist temple to God?

Will He return to respecting the physical? Will he forego the complete work of the new covenant? Or do you somehow not think it is complete? Because that is the evil result of such doctrines. Lessening the fullness of the Messiah's perfect ministry. Either you walk in it now, or it is just a incomplete work. And if the same Spirit dwells in you that fills my heart, if that amazing gift has come upon you, how can you look to the physical realm for any importance at all?

Do you know what will come to pass? Will you counsel God as to the future? Do you believe that a man, or groups of men in the church, however beloved they are, full of wisdom, full of the Spirit, can tell you what will come to pass? I do not discount God's ability to reveal the future through the body. Or denigrate any man, or groups of men, especially those in ministry. I am but a worm, dust under their feet. A very lone voice in a far off place.

But the life in me is resounding with passion, burning against the divisive promotion of end times doctrines. You who are enamored with this imagination, filled with hope and longing for the day, OPEN YOUR EYES!!!! You are blind, and can not see the Body of Christ right in front of you. Promoting any action towards this is vanity, empty work. A waste of time and energy. Turn yourself over to the Spirit and the Living Word!

Is He here? Where two or more are gathered, yes? So live like it! Have you received the Spirit of God? Then you MUST be part of the building! Built into that which is before the throne of God, in Heaven, in the Eternal realm. Express that life here and now! There is nothing to wait for, the promise of eternal life is here. Grow strong in it, live in it, be dead to everything else.

The folly of presumption is rampant in the church. The false imagination of speculation. Do you long for mansions of glory? Search deep for the source of that longing. Is it for your satisfaction? Do you long to be with the Lord? That the life you have now is just a temporary inconvenience until you are taken up? Fall on your face before Him. You are here for a purpose. If you have no joy in that purpose, have no fulfillment, no experience of God working through you than your walk is empty.

Use your will saints. Turn away from emptiness and to the fountain of eternal life. The water flows from the throne. Can you drink that water now? Can you? If you can, than you are getting into the Eternal Realm, getting into the Kingdom. Bring that life forward into this age, where you live! Be the expression of God now! Do not trust my words, ask Him yourself. Ask God "Lord do you want me to be a source of life in this place?" What answer do you expect? Inquire of the Lord even more. Be specific "Is it the end times right now? And what should I do?" Seriously saints, with the utmost honesty and fear, lay down before Him and ask.

I will end with this. I mean no offense to any who hold close to these doctrines. But prove them against what you absolutely must know is the highest purpose of God. That purpose is to draw man to Himself, and has been done in Christ. Who are we to decide when that ends? As numerous as the grains of sand. As many as the stars. I put my faith in those promises. In the redemption and salvation of all man in this age and those to come until the end of ages. Believing, placing your faith in anything else is a waste.

If you believe that God desires man, calls him to walk together, how can you then have decided for yourself when that ends? And in that decision, you have short circuited the faith. You no longer stand in the center of the powerful movement of the Spirit. You can justify yourself with interpretations of scripture. But you can not stand before the Lord with a open heart and say "I work for the coming judgment more than I work for Your expression of Eternal Life now."

Don't fall into this trap dear ones. And if I have brought offense to any, forgive me. The Spirit inside of me has pushed me, prodded me. And I intend to sharpen all of you. Focus on the now, on expressing the Body of Christ now. Be a functioning member in your community, on the strong foundation of His ministry. Our focus is toward the expression of His will, to draw all men, to heal, to comfort, to fill with life. This purpose is ten thousand times more important than any other. If I hear some interpretation of the end, I count it waste had I not heard of ten thousand messages filled with life for growth now.

And it is utter foolishness to promote this in the world. Judgment has been meted out upon the natural realm. It is cursed. The end of all thing is death and decay. Even those who dwell in the darkness can see that. Yet we, who live in the light, promote fear and imaginative fiction as a motivator to come to the Lord? How is that a light to those in darkness? And when so many stray into actually foretelling of this event and that event, then those times come and go, and the world looks to all with derision and scorn. As rightly they should! Such foolishness!

When I bring someone into the church, to find life, to get healing, to be ministered to in such a way, what do they hear in this day? Message after message about the end. Your natural man wants to know, and to appease that man, possibilities and speculation is proposed and feasted upon. That natural man lives in these imaginations, but the spirit is not nourished. Feed each other the life you find before the throne. And in that, those on the outside will be drawn to life.

Bless you all, Jesus is the Eternal King, and this realm, this age, is under His feet. Lord lead us from distraction, guide us to the expression of Your life here and now. Be the fullness in our midst. You cause us to grow. Grow Your city Lord! Grow Your Kingdom! Let Your family be increased! And be Glorified in this work forever.

Only One Special Tree

I have been vexed in my mind about a question, a certain incongruity that perhaps few worry about. I am no master scholar, or a scribe worthy of renown. Simply interested in things the Lord highlights. Then my mind gets over active, and I get all analytical. This time I put the topic on the back burner multiple times, to ponder.

And this message today is not a full revelation. I just need to get out a few thoughts, share what life they contain. Lord, let your Spirit inhabit my mind at this time, and direct my words. Fill them with life.

The question is about the nature and disposition of trees in the Garden of Eden. I like the Moffat translation of "Park at Eden", that encompasses some of the spiritual concepts. Remember dear saint, these things will be hard to accept by the natural mind. And certain doctrines will be offended by what I am about to state. Please prayerfully consider what God is speaking to you, and the local body you meet with. Do not be led astray by rules or absolutes. The natural man loves rule, guides, things that can be understood without the Spirit.

And don't fall for the trap of mysterious alternate meanings to the scripture. Real revelation in the Spirit fills you with life, for the edification of the saints. It is not a 'satisfied' good feeling alone. And it will always lead to the source of life. There are infinite pictures of Him, and finding the ones deeply associated with your walk, and impactful to the saints you meet with is His work. He moves in life. Any other revelation has little value.

These are spiritual pictures, and I only see in part. A very small part. May the fullness of the vision come to us by His anointing Spirit, and in the transformation of our minds.

All the trees were good, but God set out a guide, not to eat of a certain tree. He had a reason, I believe. A perfect reason with more than one justification. Obedience itself will determine how close we grow to Him. Also, choosing for oneself what is beneficial, when God has offered guidance, is setting the self up as our own judge. Finally, there is the end result of separation from His presence, death. None of these things did God intend for Adam, yet he knew the heart of man must choose freely, and in that gave the ultimate decision to Adam.

We know the result. Man was intent on self rule. This is actually a lesser choice than to eat from the tree of life. We know that mentally, but it is not visible to the natural man. Choosing to eat of Christ is the highest exercise of any individuals free will possible. There is nothing more important, be they Kings or Presidents. You have a even higher calling than those offices.

But my question, my irritation, stemmed from the location of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Where did it go? It sounds silly, but dear saint, there is much life to be found in the search for the wrong tree. Oh, I am not looking to eat. All of us have the curse, the soul that wants to judge by what we know. Eating the fruit of that tree is easy, and everywhere around you.

Yet in Deuteronomy 1:39 the Lord separates based upon exposure to Egypt those who knew good and evil or not. Any younger than twenty, plus the children born in the wilderness, had not yet eaten that fruit. Oh, I know it says nothing about eating or fruit, and any mental monkey (like me) can look up the Hebrew phrase to find the two similar occurrences. I am guilty at times, automated wisdom, instant intelligence, you can use a concordance! But not here, not in this picture.

Egypt was indeed cursed by God! Just as the land Adam was sent into. And Egypt represented many things not of God. Have some leeks and onions! I mean really, you can eat them! But they couldn't. And for good reason, they wanted those comforts, those items more than they wanted God. They wanted to decide for themselves what would be good, even when God promised so much more!

Did He not promise the same to Adam? Even to eat of the tree of life? Adam could have stayed with God forever. But we have the natural man at work here. Those in Egypt, though they choose to follow God out of Egypt, they did not break free of the state of deciding what was good or evil for themselves. And they died. Except Caleb, but he is for another day. And Moses was taken, but did not enter the promised land.

So by now you think I must be crazy, linking these two pictures, seemingly tied by only a thin thread. But there is something wonderful! God is good, and the word is amazingly inspired. He has a hand in crafting it this way, molding it so that it unveils as the Spirit teaches us. Yet it is but words, from men exposed to the Spirit. It is the Word Himself that the Spirit really teaches us, and in all that we encounter if we are listening.

So the wonder of wonders is in Ezekiel chapter 31. This is a comparison of the Assyrian destruction (at the Babylonian hand) to what will transpire to Pharaoh and the Egyptian kingdom of the day. Ezekiel has the trees of Eden envious of the tall ceder that was the Assyrian kingdom. Ok, physical trees are not jealous. So the trees of Eden are beings. And they are compared to a human kingdom. So the trees of Eden are a picture of a people.

I know, now you will say, "But these aren't the same trees!" Ah, fortunately Ezekiel uses the term 'all' in here, so which trees are we leaving out? Now, if it is prophetic language, and a picture of a people, there really is no problem with Adam (man), and the fall. The trees are both concepts of what man takes into himself, and pictures of those who take in those concepts. The two are not separated in essence, just 'location'. Those in the garden are taking in God, and living for God. They desire a Kingdom, of the promise God made, and see the physical kingdom of the Assyrians. They aren't envious of the Assyrian kingdom, but of the fact that that kingdom exists practically, and the experience of God's Eternal Kingdom is through faith, but not yet experienced in fullness.

Of course, there is the physical Hebrews at the time of Ezekiel as well. Those living who love the Lord. Even this is shown in Ezekiel 31:18 where the Assyrian kingdom has departed to Sheol, but the trees of Eden are buried in the earth. Ah, is this not the state of the Hebrew at that time? Buried in Babylon, with the uncircumsized, to be slain by the sword, by the word of God. The completeness in the Living Word is beyond compare.

Lets turn a bit. Consider the concept trees, and the connection with the picture of those trees as representing the state of peoples. With that let's circle back to the Deuteronomy example. This prophecy of Ezekiel is about the Egyptian kingdom. Likening it to the Assyrian tree. My contention is that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil has spread its fruit far and wide. Not simply original sin, but that we come to eat of that fruit as we grow from babes. Our choice is to listen, find the life He has, or turn to the other fruit, which leads to death.

All the trees in the garden were good to eat. But one tree was truly different. The other trees may have sustained Adam physically. And the disobedience coupled to the fruit of the forbidden tree led to death. But one tree was towards eternal life. When Adam was sent out to the land, it wasn't Eden itself that became separated, it was the path to the tree of life that was guarded. That path I contend led into the expression in the garden of the very throne of God.

The guarding of that path separated Eden from the tree of life, and the tree of life from Eden. You could not walk there, but by Ezekiel, the rest of the trees remained, and were now used as an expression of those who sought after God. Even this picture is amazing, as the ark was given to them, the tabernacle, even Solomon's Temple. The very presence of God among the trees. But still separated, and that path to eternal life was guarded by fire in all of those pictures.

But we have the One, the guide who opened up the gate on that path. He now allows us to enter in and partake of the amazing fruit that sustains forever! There is so much here, so many riches to be had. We must Glorify Him in all He does. Thank you Lord for your amazing lovingkindness.

I will return to this topic some day with more careful consideration, but I had to share such a amazing picture of 'completeness' even though the view is faint. May you find life in what you are about to do as soon as you finish here! Be in the anointing!

His Hand

Last night I was attacked in a dream. Unable to defend myself against the onslaught of guilt and regret. Dwelling in past transgressions, images and fears. My soul was pierced to the core. The vivid trickery was at work, and my heart could not resist.

All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory. And we have hurt others. Painfully changed lives by our failures and treachery. If you have no experience like this, may you walk forward in all blessing with the Lord. I on the other hand, am a speck of dust. A loathsome worm. The soul of Jacob, as resides in all men.

There have been some singular experiences in my life, some my own transgressions, others the inadvertent impact upon those around me, that imprint deeply. Who are we to judge what is of consequence or not? Yet my mind latched onto these and was tormented.

A few were the regular spear of the enemy whenever I would begin to walk closer to the Lord. Yes, if we are in denial of our choices, and are at a impasse in spiritual growth, these spears can wound us every time we attempt to move forward.

Or if you have fallen away from God, turned to the emptiness in the world looking for satisfaction, these spears bleed you further toward destruction. In my darkest hour, deep in self destruction and depression, it seemed I would welcome these wounds, dwell on them. Absorbed in inward pain, pity, guilt, fear, loathing, and anxiety.

But I never wanted to live there, never wanted to hurt myself or anyone around. Yet we can not escape it. Your natural being can not live up to even the worlds expectations, let alone the mark set by Jesus. Trying, wanting to be good, not wanting to hurt anyone, is all fine, but you will not make it. You can not make it. And the result of those failings is death.

But dear saint, we need not accept death. We do not need to live according to death. We have been crucified with Him. Accept it, recognize that you have access to eternal life every second of every day. I knew this, and still clung to death for a long time. But He transformed my will. I received healing in my being to be pulled from the internal wreckage.

My soul dominated and dictated my life. Desires, depressions, escapism from all of the pain was its complete focus at times. And to not share that with anyone, even to have that hidden life as a sanctuary. Alone in my pain and selfishness. Unable to open up, unwilling to move forward.

Yet He never left me. Always holding out the hand. Grace after Grace poured out to me. I deserve nothing but death, and in Him I have died. In my place is growing the life of eternity, the work of Christ. He counts the transformed me, as His own, as something beyond what I see.

In my dream the enemy came, and at my weakest moment. Waves of unconscious anxiety, fear, guilt, trepidation, all accompanied by the images of the past. The untransformed places in my mind, active memories, imaginations yet to be deflated.

Then I woke up suddenly. Not by anything I noticed, I was absorbed by rejection at that moment within my dream. I looked over an noticed the bedroom door ajar. My middle daughter was standing there, and I thought I heard a sniffle. I extracted myself from the temporary death of sleep, and got up to see what was the matter.

I went to her and asked if she needed to use the toilet, as she has now made it through the night for weeks. She answered me, “Daddy, I'm thirsty.” I was a bit surprised at that, because she has never asked for a drink in the middle of the night before. Further more she never gets up and roams about until it is light.

So I got her a drink of water and she went right back to sleep. I flopped down in my bed, still full of all the emotions of my dream. I turned to the Lord, and gave Him my feelings. Then I simple called out to Him, “Daddy, I'm thirsty.” It seemed a bit silly to my mind. But He knows our hearts, He knows our need in times of darkness. I fell back to sleep.

When I got up in the morning I was still irritated in my mind about the barbs of the deceiver. I whiled away the morning, then in the shower, I was praying and He revealed to me how deceptive my dream was. Then I saw how He saved me from that attack. He used my daughter to both wake me up physically, and as a picture of meeting my own need.

I was at the shores of death, and He picked me up. I was under attack, and could not defend myself, He was my shield. I was beguiled by my own soul into doubting His perfect ministry. By dwelling on our transgressions, by rehashing our injuries, we are not believing in His salvation. Lord forgive my doubt, forgive my self trust. I could never save myself.

He will wake us up. When we fall asleep, when our natural dwelling has faded, and passed into the ground, under the waters, He will speak. “Arise! Come and drink with me!” Just as it was last night, we have a promise, and He faithfully walks in that reality throughout our lives and beyond.

I am still in awe as I write this. You Lord, are beyond amazing! You are worthy of eternal praise. I want to stand before You and praise You forever. Singing Your Glorious works from the one end of the Universe to the other. I want to yell it, with a voice louder than any, “Jesus is the King of all creation! Holy is the King!”

He is so faithful, even in our immobilized weakness. I can not move, I can not speak. Yet He speaks. He moves within me. What can I do? I am undone, but a fading flower of the field. Dead in Him. And yet I live.

After I realized what the Lord had done for me, how He had saved me, He added to that a new song. It came without trying, without strain. So easily He leads us to life giving water. Dear saint, as you read this, praise Him, if not for what you know now, praise Him for saving even one such as I.

A Vision Where I Live

One thing presses upon my heart, a pressure, a sadness. And that concerns the church in this age, in this place. There are at least ten church buildings within one mile of where I live. Each with its own sign, each with its own edifice. And inside are beloved ones who believe in the Lord. Each group has something to give, community services, study groups, worship services.

But I rise up in the Spirit, and I see all these lights, separated, hidden from each other, covered over by doctrine and practice from displaying the fullness of Christ. There are no walls that separate the Body of Christ, no such thing exists in the Spirit. The spiritual reality has as its foundation Jesus Christ, and Him only. Men have built on to this foundation concepts of wood, hay, and stubble.

No denomination exists in the New Kingdom. Even the 'non-denominational' denominations have no basis in the New Kingdom reality. I hear it all the time, "Come to our church." But I am a part of your church! I already come to the church! I can not join your organization, your denomination, as this is simply a artifice of mans creation. I can not join that which I am already a part of in reality.

So what does Paul mean when he says "... each man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself shall prove each man's work of what sort it is." Do you think he means at the end of all things? No, our personal faith is tested whenever we grow, to strengthen and build us personally. Is it any different with the practical manifest Body of Christ? No, but we are so insulated to the spiritual reality, we fail to perceive the testing of God.

Also, there is His timeline. We are constrained personally to this brief existence. He is not. His judgment is perfect, and may play out over days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries, mellinia, or longer. Do not even entertain the notion that you perceive His full wisdom. We know in part, and that is a very small part. But He is faithfull to reveal what is pertinent to us, in a timely manner, for our benefit and edification.

So in that, He has opened my eyes to the walls that separate us. The context is simple. What do yo call a 'new church' starting up near you? I attend one of those, I love the saints there, and sense God wanting to flow in life in them. But there are plenty of believers who live in my area. The church is already here, so it is just a new meeting. And what should be the focus of growth for a new meeting in some area? Is it a competition for resources based on what meeting has the most life? Or best worship band? Or provides the best Sunday school?

Certainly we should evangelize, there is a huge need in my area, but the other groups do the same thing. Do we evangelize to grow our meeting? Or to lead the empty to the church? And what do you teach? That the practices and doctrines of your branch are superior? Or that you just 'believe' in this way? But to what result? Is that belief a protective barrier to some fear, or some threat? Most do not do this overtly. It is simply a result of our natural desire to be a part of something special. Nothing wrong with that, especially as it becomes transformed by the Spirit, and you realize you are a part of something very special, but it has little to do with particular doctrines or practice.

Do you see what will happen? Denominations have not withstood the fire. Fractured, broken into pieces, by the opinions of man. Destined for the eternal bonfire. They are the work of man. Doctrines of end times, practices of symbolic requirement, all burned up in time. Perhaps not your lifespan, but gone none the less.

Look dear saint, to what has pushed through the ages! Has the 'universal church' decreased in number? One believer, in one locality, can bear much fruit! And it has happened through the ages! The life in you, the same Spirit, guided the early church. Guided those faithful searchers through the 'dark ages', through wars and famines. And it flourishes now, in our day across the globe!

Do you think it will be any different in your locality? Will the building on the corner survive a hundred years? Two hundred? It will fall, and the image it projects now, whether of stained glass tower or collegial campus, will be gone. But the life inside of the meeting, the life imprinting itself now on the hearts of those gathered, will bear fruit. It will go forward to Glory after Glory.

Does it really glorify God when the building fund meets its goal? Is there eternal benefit in the new sound system? By all means He provides, and is Glorified in our faith, and meeting that faith. But realize dear ones, what is close to His heart! It is the unity of faith, and the display of power that builds the Body of Christ. It is a spiritual construction, and central to God's heart. The tool, the organism He inhabits to truly rule this realm is His body. If we do not practice the body, we are not reaching our potential.

In this we can safely judge what works we put our efforts toward. Work for the breaking down of the walls that divide the church in your locality. Go to a service at another building. Go with love, and then go to another. Meet at a prayer group you have never gone to, go with love and visit. If your react negatively to the doctrines and practices of another meeting, look to your own heart. The Lord loves these ones! After you do this, tell your friends to do the same! You need not switch meetings, or abandon those you are close to, just search and pray for this vision. Test your vision by loving all the believers in your area! And by that, to love them you must meet them!

If we see the body, actually sense the unity of faith in the body where we live, God will have a outlet of strength. He wants to build, and it will happen. One plants, one waters, but He causes growth. If the ground where you live is strewn with boulders and weeds, or littered with wood, hay and stubble, it simply need to be cleared. Look around, God will clear the land in His time, removing the boulders and weeds. Burning up the constructions of man. If you see it, pray it. Walk in that vision of the unified Body of Christ, that supreme display of God's love toward those who walk in darkness.

I speak of spiritual things, and they are irritations to the natural mind. Even the mind encased in doctrine will reject the word. Woe to you who are trapped in such lifeless shells! You claim the light, yet do not taste the life. Fall on your faces and cry! God is ready to break that shell, and gently lead you to living water. He speaks now in this day of a strong wind, a movement of the Spirit which will fan the flames! That which is constructed of pure gold, pure silver, facetted gems, can not be burnt.

Lord open the eyes of all who read this, let the log drop from in front of us! The wood, the log, the construction of man which prevents us from seeing the body where we live. Prevents us from loving the all the saints in our localities. Release Your anointing word to expose the folly. Show the futility of these doctrines and practices! Bring us back Lord! Back to the path of Your design, even that specific path for the communities where we live. Do a work here, worthy of Eternal Glory! Praise you forever!