Proverbs 1:7 (NLT) 7 Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. I woke this morning with this Scripture and the drive to hear more from the Spirit concerning the fear of the Lord. I was led to Isaiah 11:1-2 (ESV) There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. A very interesting thing I found as I traced "fear of the Lord" back to the Hebrew root word. This fear is not the same as our understanding of the word. The Hebrew uses a different word for that type of fear. The 'fear of the Lord' stems from the root word for sheepskin.
John 10:14-16 (NASB) 14 I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, 15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. John 10:22-28 22 At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; 23 it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon. 24 The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. 26 But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.
Becoming His sheep opens the door to true knowledge. Because He laid down His life for us, our spirit is born into His Family, and His death, resurrection and ascension gives us the opportunity to be filled with the Holy Spirit. His anointing teaches and guides us to follow Jesus. The same Spirit that filled Jesus. "The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord." You do not understand the fear of the Lord until you become a sheep!
This world feeds at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They do not have the Spirit of knowledge! I have often said, 'you do not eat of both trees at the same time. It is why Adam and Eve were driven from the garden. You feed on the tree of Life--Jesus--by the Holy Spirit Who lives in you.' You separate your self from the fears of this world, the anxiety and desires of the flesh nature by identifying with the life and victory of Jesus. We follow our Shepherd.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Thursday, November 8, 2012
The Power of Yielding
In feeding on His Word and looking to Jesus, my spirit has learned some valuable truths. God's ways are revealed to us in His Word and in the experiences we encounter in following Jesus. God interacts through His covenants as man responds. Our responses are very important to our understanding. Obedience and trust are two very big responses that develop true submission in our spirit. Our minds and emotions get in the way of both obedience and trust. It takes great dependence on God to do either. Our dependence on God is built by faith in His ability, His character, and His Nature of love. It is also built by the strength of our response to adore, to appreciate, and our determination to go all the way with Him and to ignore every "exit sign" to go our own way.
My own experience has been determined by the example of others, my faith that God is faithful and His Word is the light to my path and that Jesus was sent by God to show us, and to be, the way to be in God's image. His Spirit has been my Guide, my Teacher and the strength to follow and stay in the Way. That said, let us look at some of the examples of people who lived in, what I think, were very troubling and even frightening times.
Joshua had followed Moses and Aaron very carefully and faithfully. We see no hesitation in his following their direction. But suddenly, he stands now in the position that has been emptied by the death of Moses, and he has to hear from God to lead the people on into possessing the land promised to them. His training and his own positioning himself to stay close to the center of God's revealed Presence, gave him confidence in his hearing God. (I find the most prevalent problem people express to me is the question of hearing from God and how do they know it is God.) The word of God to Joshua is very much a necessary word to us today. Joshua 1:5-9 (NASB) 5 No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. 8 This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
When you face life's discouraging, frightening, audacious circumstances, you have a choice. Be anxious, be discouraged, be intimidated or take your stand, be strong and very courageous. One translation says, "courage then, play the man!" (Knox Bible) We have our end of the covenant to hold up--we respond to His strength! Jesus faced the scorn of man, the hatred and the pain of their persecution with courage and strength of purpose. We follow the Lamb!
My own experience has been determined by the example of others, my faith that God is faithful and His Word is the light to my path and that Jesus was sent by God to show us, and to be, the way to be in God's image. His Spirit has been my Guide, my Teacher and the strength to follow and stay in the Way. That said, let us look at some of the examples of people who lived in, what I think, were very troubling and even frightening times.
Joshua had followed Moses and Aaron very carefully and faithfully. We see no hesitation in his following their direction. But suddenly, he stands now in the position that has been emptied by the death of Moses, and he has to hear from God to lead the people on into possessing the land promised to them. His training and his own positioning himself to stay close to the center of God's revealed Presence, gave him confidence in his hearing God. (I find the most prevalent problem people express to me is the question of hearing from God and how do they know it is God.) The word of God to Joshua is very much a necessary word to us today. Joshua 1:5-9 (NASB) 5 No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. 8 This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
When you face life's discouraging, frightening, audacious circumstances, you have a choice. Be anxious, be discouraged, be intimidated or take your stand, be strong and very courageous. One translation says, "courage then, play the man!" (Knox Bible) We have our end of the covenant to hold up--we respond to His strength! Jesus faced the scorn of man, the hatred and the pain of their persecution with courage and strength of purpose. We follow the Lamb!
Monday, November 5, 2012
Going Forward
I have spoken often of the progressive action of God, always moving forward to His goal, man in His image. But what is the appearance of the next step? We know the Word speaks of the Bride and we know the next covenant will be sealed at the wedding supper of the Lamb. But what are we to expect in these days in which we live? It is something I have pondered and searched the Scriptures. I see a repeating pattern in the actions and emotions of those who have lived in similar times--that period between the fulfilling of one covenant to be prepared for the very "loud" time of "hands on" when God moves to bring a people forward to another covenant. I am thankful to God for allowing me to live in such a time. I would not have been happy in those "silent" times in history. I love seeing the Hand of God moving His people into position for His next great action. I hope I am alive to see the glorious day of the Lord, but I know, if not, I will be in that cloud of witnesses who have watched the unfolding of this progress.
One thing I see preceeds such a time is the growing hunger and searching for personal awareness a meeting with God can bring. This can be a painful time for I see a human effort gets people sidetracked. Saul in his desire to please God jumped in to kill Christians because he saw the covenant he was under as the final word of God and was "in danger" by those Christians. When he finally was taught by The Spirit, Paul gave us some of the most profound teaching on "going on to know the Lord". But Abram had the same difficulty in his understanding God's Word to him. He was under the covenant that God had given Adam and knew the anointing that rested on the patriarchs to cover their families and teach them of God's ways, but he had no son. Though God had promised to give him a son, Abraham sought to please God by producing Ishmael by Hagar. Both of these men knew the pain of their own actions, but God still accomplished His will.
I see the hunger growing and we have seen some painful human action as some have tried to generate action by their own efforts. But God is faithful. We will be that church without spot or wrinkle, a Bride made ready for her Beloved. But we may not look like a Bride. We may look more like Joel's army! But our appearance will not be shaped by our efforts but by The Spirit. The glow of glory will not be painted on, it will be the real evidence of time spent in the presence of our King, learning the humility of prostating before the throne of His Majesty, being imprinted with His Nature.
One thing I see preceeds such a time is the growing hunger and searching for personal awareness a meeting with God can bring. This can be a painful time for I see a human effort gets people sidetracked. Saul in his desire to please God jumped in to kill Christians because he saw the covenant he was under as the final word of God and was "in danger" by those Christians. When he finally was taught by The Spirit, Paul gave us some of the most profound teaching on "going on to know the Lord". But Abram had the same difficulty in his understanding God's Word to him. He was under the covenant that God had given Adam and knew the anointing that rested on the patriarchs to cover their families and teach them of God's ways, but he had no son. Though God had promised to give him a son, Abraham sought to please God by producing Ishmael by Hagar. Both of these men knew the pain of their own actions, but God still accomplished His will.
I see the hunger growing and we have seen some painful human action as some have tried to generate action by their own efforts. But God is faithful. We will be that church without spot or wrinkle, a Bride made ready for her Beloved. But we may not look like a Bride. We may look more like Joel's army! But our appearance will not be shaped by our efforts but by The Spirit. The glow of glory will not be painted on, it will be the real evidence of time spent in the presence of our King, learning the humility of prostating before the throne of His Majesty, being imprinted with His Nature.
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