Fire On Your Head

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4)

In the last few years of my life, I’ve swung the pendulum from one way of thinking to another in my understanding about faith and how it works.  Some people get really offended at the implication that faith is something that grows and is developed–in other words, the idea of having more, implies you must not already have enough–and that gets used to condemn people for not being at certain stages of their life. Even when you’re not, people think you are condemning them when trying to help them and edify them into greater experiences in God. However, I think it’s wrong to push people and make them feel worse about situations they’re in and believing God for help getting out of, of course.

I try to be careful how I communicate to people who are really discouraged or needing breakthrough in their life, of course, and I’d never beat other sheep of God’s for not being healed immediately, and I’d never put guilt on them and blame them for not receiving their miracle yet. That is wrong, and oddly enough, by virtue of teaching HOW to grow in faith, it’s an accusation I get launched at me often, but if you hear me out you’ll know the truth behind my words.

That being said, I cannot for the life in me find what many people think about faith (having it or not enough of it), IN the Bible.  Our faith IS “growable” and spell checker is not letting me write that word, but it IS the word I want to make up/use–growable–but that is not what I’m trying to write about today, and have written in more detail elsewhere on this site. One important thing I’m finding out about faith these days, and this is what I want to write today–that it has no “perishing point”.

Look at this:
“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, though it is tested so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:6-7 ESV)

Gold and silver are perishable things (1 Pet 1:18). Those type of things are something I’ve spent considerable time meditating on and thinking about. Gold and silver are things you find in the ground, in caves or hidden in safe places. They require finding. They aren’t just on the surface of the ground for any passer by to have access to who couldn’t care much less about finding it. At intense temperatures with a lot of heat, these valuable stones are purified and all the dirt and dross burns away after a certain point.

Gold has a certain perishing point.  If you kept the temperature rising, the gold would eventually turn to liquid, and if you kept increasing the temperature higher still, then eventually the gold would evaporate or dissolve. If you took a pile of gold and projected it into our sun, at some point before it got right near the sun it would have completely dissolved. However, your faith has NO point at which it dissolves or perishes–according to Scripture. Peter refers to it as being more precious than gold, that perishes though it is tested by fire. Gold, not faith is the object here being referred to as perishable. Can you imagine that or think about that for a moment?

Later in the same chapter it says “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you.“  (1 Peter 1:22-25)

If our souls need purification, and we’re born of imperishable seed, and not perishable–then why do so many of us spend so much time dwelling on and feeding ourselves with perishable stuff and dwelling more on the ‘perishable’ realm of our lives? I know a lot of Christians that read the Bible for 5 minutes a day -if at all– but gosh–don’t ever ask them to quit the TV for a week or suggest withdrawing from the internet for 2 days to dig into the hidden manna, and, dwell on that imperishable stuff that doesn’t fade or have a perishing point.  Many ministries and preachers build their ministries using substance of this earthly realm, using materials that are combustible, flammable, and unable to withstand the fire on that upcoming day (see 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 and for more along that line, read What Are You Building With?, and keep posted for an article the Lord is developing in me about the kingdoms of men and of heaven).

“Fiery” trials…

For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” (Mark 9:49-50)

The things we must remember are some simple key words.  EVERYBODY will be salted with fire.  Salt universally is a key ingredient to many foods and dishes.  I remember one time making my famous Bremner spaghetti omelet for my translator and mutual friend during my first visit to Peru and scrambled to find enough of the ingredients at the nearest supermarket to properly prepare it for my guests.  I’ve made it numerous times, but this time it didn’t have anywhere near as potent of a taste as normal.  That’s when one of my guests said “it’s because you didn’t put salt in it.” Salt naturally helps retain some of the flavor. Living in a hot climate, I’m also in the habit of sprinkling a little bit of salt on some of my food in order to help me retain water in my system and not dehydrate.  Well in God’s scheme of things, he’s going to ’salt’ us using *fire*.  Do you want your flavor to be retained with God’s fire, or are you of a different flavor that’s not worth being enhanced, because instead it will bring other stuff to the surface to be burned?

“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD.  “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 3:1-6)

What causes the wicked to be melted in the presence of it, causes the pure in heart to be made purer and more refined in its presence, like precious gold and silver–but yet not perish like the wicked.  What for the righteous is a baptism, is destructive for those not on the right side of the flame.  Fire serves as a method of distinguishing:

As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ,  John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” (Luke 3:15-17)

I have gone off a bit to talk about the fire of God, just to get to this point I’m about to make:

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,  for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:28-29).  The “un-shaking” nature of this kingdom somehow mysteriously lies in the nature of its King–likened to a  consuming fire, Who in the presence of, only the purified things can withstand the presence and not be destroyed or shaken by it.

We have other passages of Scripture using different analogies like water or wind, not just fire, but I felt for this article focusing on the imagery of fire would serve the purpose, but consider what the word of God is like according to Isaiah 55:10-11: “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.“

Being from Canada and seeing the long term effects of snow, I can appreciate the concept of this passage.  In the last two years, we had record amounts of snow.  One thing about rain and snow, being both water, is that it doesn’t disappear, but the change of temperature merely makes it change.  When you have record amounts of snow, you have tall snowbanks in the winter.  But when you reach spring, the record amount of snow becomes record amount of flooding.  The snow doesn’t just vaporize and go back to the sky, but it becomes something else and accomplishes a new purpose.  Water too, doesn’t have a perishing point, but just a point of vaporization.  And it doesn’t disappear, but accomplishes that which it was sent for.  I think there’s a LOT in that concept of the Word of God being like rain and snow watering the earth that we could write a series of meditative articles on, but that’s for another time.

With all that we’ve just looked at in the Word, allow me to say this: God is faithful to fulfill the purpose for which He has sent word into your life.  It may feel like you’re burning up from fiery trials He’s putting you through, but there is no perishing point, and God is not and never will put you through more than He feels you can bear.  You are just being purified.  He will finish what He started in your life, and what He has sent your way will accomplish its purpose.  Your faith has no perishing point.

Abide in Him.

A common topic in the church in recent years is the statement which is quoted from 2 Kings 2:14: “Where is the Lord the God of Elijah?” Elijah had just ascended into heaven via a whirlwind. Elisha had received his mantle which represents the anointing, the power of the Holy Spirit in his life. He took the mantle and tapped the water, made the statement, the water parted, and he crossed over.

As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. Elisha saw it and cried out,”My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. He also took up the mantle of Elijah which fell from him and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan. He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha crossed over. 2 Kings 2:11-14

Elisha was Elijah’s disciple. Elijah was a very powerful prophet who raised the dead, and called rain and fire down from heaven. Something else that he did was amazing too: he had a School of the Young Prophets (as referred thereto by Bob Gladstone). He surrounded himself with those willing to learn the ways of God. In essence, he was a father to a whole company of prophets who would carry his vision from God into the coming generations. (ref 1 & 2 Kings)

Here was a man who was absolutely possessed by the Spirit of God, to the degree that he would not even face death but be taken up to heaven, while he was still alive! God did call him to raise up another in his place. The revelation did not leave with him, it grew into further revelation through his disciples, especially Elisha. The power and the move of God did not leave with him, it was magnified through those he trained up to walk in his footsteps.

Generational Transfiguration

Elijah knew after Elijah was gone, now was the time for him to walk in the prophetic call of God. Now was the time for him to be the prophet to his generation. This is the reason for the statement; “Where is the Lord the God of Elijah?” He already knew God, but now he was stepping into his call, replacing Elijah as a prophetic light and voice to Israel.

Now was the time, the commissioning and birth of his ministry, through the waters of the Jordan river. This was a birth that had to be supernatural, so he called upon the God of his father to lead him in power, just as the Lord had done beforehand in Elijah. Elijah may have left, but his call and his vision-his mantle, did not. Elisha received the mantle that the Lord placed on Elijah. And now he would relate to God in a whole new way. Walking with the Lord the way Elijah did required an understanding of that relationship, producing the exclamation Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah.

Elisha’s call to fulfill Elijah’s call was part of him accomplishing his own call. This is the essence of the hearts of the fathers turning to the children and the children to the fathers. A “generational transfer” as we so often hear it explained. I, however, would call it a generational transfiguration. Each generation has more revelation than the previous generation in light of the understanding of the knowledge of God for the unfolding of the times. Therefore, when this revelation is passed from generation to generation, there is a multiplying of powers, not just addition. The more clear it gets and the more it unfolds, the more of God’s plan for the ages will be revealed to us.

When you have the previous generation’s revelation and the new generation’s revelation together, a larger part of the picture is seen than ever before, bringing the church closer to the fullness of Christ (Eph 4:11-13). Thus it is right to make the statement ourselves Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah? in this context. The Lord has not changed, He is still there, still present. He has given us all the power we need in each and every situation to accomplish His will. Consequently I believe that the Lord and the earth would say this:

Where are the Elijahs of God?

Behold I am going to sent you Elijah the prophet before the coming great and terrible day of the Lord. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse. Malachi 4:5-6

Now we know according to the Gospel of Matthew that Jesus declared John the Baptist as Elijah who was to come (v 11:14). Also Elijah is still to come: “Elijah does first come and will restore all things” (Mark 9:12; 11 ref). So we see here two fulfillments of one prophecy. Many believe Elijah will himself return as one of the two witnesses mentioned in the book of Revelation. That may be true. I believe there is a generational fulfillment in that as well. We need mentors and fathers to take their knowledge of God and pour the substance of that wisdom into the young ones around them. And, the young ones need to embrace need to embrace and learn from them without trying to do it all on their own. The generations must come together for the world to see a true picture of who our God really is. The love of a Father…

Models?

Elijah was a father in the faith. He walked in the power of God. We need those who are full and walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, those who actually know God to the degree that Elijah did. Where are those who can heal the sick and raise the dead, in Jesus’ name?

And it shall come about in the last days, God says; “That I will pour out my Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions and your old men will dream dreams: Even on my bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth My Spirit, and they shall prophesy. Acts 2:17-18

This was Peter’s explanation for the drunk-like state of those who had been baptized in the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The verse before this he says; “This is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel…” This the fulfillment of that prophesy, for there to be a people in the last days-which can also be translated new Jesus age-that live in this state of prophetic application. This is the demarcation that we are children of God in the end times: We are full of the Spirit and walking in the power of the Spirit. We need models to look up to who walk in the Spirit like this, and we need to become models for those in our midst. Where are the Elijahs of God?

Provoked?

Now when Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols. (Acts 17:16, read through 34 for context).

His spirit was being provoked from within him. Is your spirit provoked within you when you see evil, or are you entertained by it as I often am? What is it going to take for us to hate sin and quit making excuses for it?  For us to quit putting Christian labels on it just so we can do it? I used to be provoked constantly, then I became soft. Live life in freedom, but by all means be provoked. Be provoked by sickness and heal it! Be provoked by death and raise it! Be provoked by sin and preach against it! Be provoked by hate and love it!

Paul’s spirit was provoked–a synonym could be taunted. The idols were taunting him or egging him on. Likewise, Goliath taunted the armies of the living God (1 Sam 17). When David heard him, he could not hide from Goliath behind the rocks with the other men. By default, because of the residency of the Spirit, he was forced to take a stand! Forced to silence the voice of the enemy! Forced to protect his people! Forced to display to an entire nation that his God would deliver him!

Are you an Elijah?

This will be a revolution of the Spirit (Gladstone). Quit turning the other cheek to sin, sickness, and death. Be provoked and stand like Elijah and Elisha, like Paul and David; act, overcome. Victorize  yourself and those around you! Where are the Elijahs of God? Are you an Elijah, declaring the way of the Lord?

After Elijah was taken up, the prophets asked Elisha if they could go search for Elijah. Elijah was gone but his call was resting on Elisha. There is a searching in the earth today for an Elijah generation. I declare: let that be you and I.

Final Thought

This is a revision of a post I did in October of 2006. Recently I realized that I needed to get more on fire for Jesus. I was not reading the Word and praying nearly as much as I used to. Right after a struggle with sin I asked the Lord what was going on. The answer was sharp and immediate; “You are not provoked!” was the response He placed in my spirit. I got this post out and read it right away and knew that God was setting my back on the path to freedom. Preaching against sin is not a religious spirit, that is a top tactic to those who are experiencing a new freedom of expression in God. Sin will turn your freedom into slavery with you even realizing it, for the sake of being non-religious. Be free, and, be free from sin. Its like duct tape on the skin, it hurts to pull it off but it feels great once its gone.

To listen to this message click here and scroll down to the sermon player, click on Where are the Elijahs?

There are so many in the Church who are always complaining that God does not REQUIRE them to spend hours in prayer, or that they do not feel LED to do this or that. They are content with doing only those things that they are certain God requires of them. Only the very least that they can do without feeling guilty.

But is this the proper attitude of one who loves the Lord with ALL their heart, soul, mind and strength?

Would a truly loving wife want to do only those things that she was certain her husband has asked her to do? Or would a husband who loves his wife as he should, want to do the least he could for his wife without feeling guilty?

Is it not those soldiers who do more than they are required to do who receive the metal for bravery and heroism?

Those who risk their own lives to save others will receive the highest honor.

In Luke 17, Jesus uses the example of a servant who does only what he was commanded to do. He ends by saying, “When you have done ALL that you are commanded to do, say, ‘we are unprofitable servants. We have done that which was our duty to do”.

What kind of crown will you have on coronation day to cast down before the feet of King Jesus?

Will it be a “card-board”, Burger King crown? Or will it be something worthy of the King?

Those who get promoted and honored are those who go above and beyond the call of duty. We have the example of Paul, of Peter, of the hero’s of the faith in Hebrews 11 and of our Lord Jesus Christ!

We must never allow ourselves to be motivated by guilt or fear in our service of the King of kings. “Neither circumsision nor uncircumsision avails anything: but FAITH which WORKS by LOVE”.

When we spend much time alone with Jesus, we see His heart. We understand how intensely He desires that sinners should be saved from sin and damnation, and that backsliders should return to their first love. We become zealous and bold to bring them back to Him.

When David’s mighty-men were close enough to him to overhear him thinking out loud that he greatly desired a drink of water from the well in Bethlehem, they risked their lives to get it for him without having to be told. They did it not out of a sense of duty, but out of love for their king.

We know how great His love for us is.

How great is our love for Him?

What are we prepared to do?

Check out this video on The Obedience of Faith

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” – Jn 6:63

“Some of you are familiar with one of the great revivals: the revival in the Hebrides. Back in the late 1940s-early 1950s, this little group of islands experienced a powerful move of the Spirit of God, one of the purest revivals that we have seen, at least in my generation. Seventy-five percent of the people who were saved were converted outside the walls of the church.

In other words, God came down and saturated the community with His presence. People were up all night getting right with God. People would walk on the road and come under conviction of sin and fall down at the side of the road, repenting of their sin. They weren’t exposed to any preaching, just the Spirit of God that suddenly invaded the area. The revival was preceded by the earnest praying of several young men as well as two elderly women. Their cry was that God ‘would rend the heavens and come down.’

The people reported that five years after that revival you could count on one hand the number of people who had drifted away from God. Bars closed down; saloons closed down; dance halls closed down. The entire community was changed as a result of that revival.

One man whom God greatly used was a Presbyterian minister by the name of Duncan Campbell. Duncan Campbell was the key figure really. One night he had a dream, and in this dream he was walking into one of the small towns on the islands. As he approached the town, he noticed that there was a large crowd of people listening to somebody preaching the Word of God. As he got closer, he could hear the Word of God being proclaimed, but he didn’t recognize the preacher. After a while it dawned on him that this was no ordinary preacher; this was the devil.

Finally the crowd dispersed, and in his dream he went up to the devil and said, ‘You’re the devil, aren’t you?’

‘Yes I am,’ he replied.

Duncan Campbell then asked, ‘Why are you preaching the gospel? Why are you preaching the Word of God?’

And the devil responded, saying, ‘Duncan Campbell, don’t you know that the greatest weapon I have is the preaching of the Word of God without the anointing of the Spirit? You see, the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.’ (Surviving the Anointing, pp.70-71; Destiny Image, 2007)

No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. (1 John 3:6-9, ESV)

This post is very similar to one I wrote over a year ago called Mixing the Counterfeit in with the Genuine.  We’ll be dealing with the same passage of Scripture I used as the starting point in that article, only today I’ll be taking a different approach and making a different emphasis,  writing from more of a personal level and not so much a corporate level for the whole Body of Christ as that post.

Recently in one of our meetings at El Central De Fuego (The Fire Center) here in Lima, Peru, Ron Smith shared a message on this subject that I felt unlocked some pieces of the puzzle of what the Lord has been showing me in the past 15 months, so I decided to pen this article, which is very similar to a series I did on parables out of Matthew 13.  Clicking on that tag below to read the rest of them is highly encouraged for understanding the framework I’m working with.  I’ll try not to be repetitive, but some assumptions I’m making today are hashed out in more detail in those posts.

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said,’No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” Matthew 13: 24-30, ESV

The devil always comes that he may steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10).  It’s harder to steal a tree than it is to steal the seed of that tree in its early form.   One of satan’s most effective strategies, is to scatter lies and deception in seed form early on in the harvesting stage.  When you take two different seeds in the palm of your hand, you typically will not know what they will bear until you’ve planted them and seen what fruit is produced.  Obviously skilled and experienced gardeners and farmers would have a keener eye than the average person on what specific seeds are and what they will yield.  But for all intents and purposes, the end result or outcome is not obvious just by looking at the seed in the early stages.

In our parable out of Matthew 13, we’re told that the farmer sowed good seed, but it was an enemy who came in and ALSO sowed bad seed.  The strategy behind this is that the same water, the same nutrients from the soil, would feed both the good and the bad, and attempting to rid the soil of the bad weeds would be detrimental to the health of the good crop, and the two in this parable are allowed to grow until the same specified period, upon which time one is harvested and the other is destroyed. When you have the two different seeds absorbing the same nutrients, and dividing where the soil’s resources will be used, the good crop suffers in terms of how much of it could have produced.  If you had a whole field with only good seed, you’d yield more usable crop.  But when you take that whole field, half of it (the weeds) will be destroyed at harvest time, you’re going to suffer loss in terms of what good harvest you could have produced with the whole field.

Too many Christians live their lives that way: letting both seeds take root in their lives and then later having destruction come  to destroy works of the flesh, whether it be from sowing and reaping, judgment, or just plain suffering consequences of actions resulting in those seeds going unchecked and coming to fruition in other forms. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (James 1:15)

You can’t feed both natures without suffering loss to one or the other.  Scripture says you can’t serve two masters, for you will wind up hating one.

Romans 8:5-11 says

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

When it comes to struggling with the flesh, and trying to live holy, I’ve heard it likened to having two dogs at war.  One representing your sinful nature, and the other your new born again nature.  If you throw a piece of meat on the ground and let both dogs go after it, one would get it, eat it, and become stronger.  If you did the same thing the next day, the one who got it the day before has an advantage in that he’s got more strength and vitality after having eaten the meat it had previously obtained, and most likely will win the piece of meat this time as well.  Eventually the stronger dog will always overpower the weaker one and keep on getting the meat and feeding itself, continuing to get significantly stronger, while the weaker dog keeps on getting weaker and eventually dies.   Such, although not a perfect analogy by any means, is similar to the struggle we each are waging with our sinful nature, crucified and washed by the blood, but many of us have mindsets that haven’t changed and need constant renewal (Romans 12:1-2).

When a person becomes born again, they are not changed over night.  The old nature has been crucified, and God has transformed the believer.  But something interesting is stated here in 1 John 3:9–that God’s SEED abides in us.  The interesting thing about a seed, is that it in and of itself is clearly not the finished work of whatever that seed is going to produce and grow into.  There is a lot that we could discuss and meditate on in just thinking about this concept of the kingdom of God, and the articles I’ve already written and posted probably just barely scratch the surface of some other thoughts about this.  But one thing worth repeating or bearing in mind is that a seed basically contains the image, or the DNA of what its yield will contain.  But many of the passages I’m referencing–and other Scripture references we could look at–all have a common thread in that we are in charge of how much we ‘water our seed’, or cultivate our new nature in the Spirit.

Forgive my assumption that all readers of this are mature, but when a man gives his seed to his wife in the marriage act and a child is conceived, all that has transpired is a seed has been shared.  An actual full size adult human being is not implanted into the woman, but the image of what that human being will become is all contained in that seed.  Hair color, eye color, physical traits, but those things will be nourished and developed in the womb and eventually outside of the mother’s body when the child has been born.  Everything the child will become is not obvious just by looking at a pregnant woman who is expecting, or even from looking at the baby in its crib as an infant.  The same way that the groom gives his seed physically in the natural example of the marriage act, Christ, the Bridegroom has given us the seed of righteousness to the Church, His Bride.  For lack of a better way of describing it, He has implanted His nature into the born again believer upon salvation and regeneration.  But it’s not obvious right away.  It takes cultivation.

This moment is then the devil’s greatest opportunity to corrupt that seed–early on in the development stage.  That’s why, for example, tobacco advertizers aim their ads at youth and young adolescents.  This is why many corruping images are sent our way through television and media.  It’s a spiritual and even natural fact that we are most impressionable when we are young, therefore it’s the habits we develop early in life that lay a foundation and form us for the rest of our lives.  The same is true spiritually.  The young formative seasons of a believer’s walk with Christ are important for growth as this is the most easy time for the devil to scatter other seeds in the soil.

Consider other things Scripture tells us about sowing and seeds:

First Corinthians 15: 36-37 states that “What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.”  This is consistent with the death to self that we are to be constantly engaged in in order that our spiritual nature matures and strengthens.

Sowing, whatever the seed may be, always results in reaping.  We usually hear this used in order to coax people into giving money in offerings when we hear passages like 2 Cor 9:6 which say whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Whatever seed you’re sowing bountifully, you’ll reap bountifully (the context of this passage is giving financially).

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:6-8)  Make no mistake about it, the negative sinful stuff we sow to the flesh will grow, build, and culminate, and if we’re not careful, dominate our lives.  It’s a spiritual principle that all too often I only hear about money (sow money and you’ll reap money), but if left unchecked, bad habits in our lives will grow to severe levels.  It’s better to deal with these issues in seed form early than to let them fester and germinate.

Even when the hoardes of darkness sow seeds of deception into the church or into your mind, it’s usually always mixed in with the truth.  We see this in the Garden of Eden when the serpent asked Eve questions about what God said, and helped confuse her as to what the truth of the matter regarding eating of it really was.  He even appealed to her desire to be good, to deceive her into disobeying what she was told.

Deception is usually always rooted in some form of truth, corrupting it.

In conclusion, the best way to deal with these issues of sowing to the flesh, is to sow the opposite–to the Spirit.  If anybody reading this has gone so far done a path that you are trying to overcome a sin that has snared you, even though you love God and want to overcome but can’t seem to, my best advice is to follow the same pattern that led you in that direction, but with spiritual seeds.  It’s true the power of the blood of Christ is enough to set you free instantly from any sin that entangles us, but for the most part the problem lies in our unrenewed mind.

Begin the same process with the Word of God and seeds of righteousness in your thinking that you led in an unregenerate way to get where you may find yourself now.  I remember Neil T. Anderson, author of The Bondage Breaker and other books about spiritual freedom, used an analogy that fits:  if your mind is dark and polluted from all sorts of sin and unregenerated thinking, imagine it like a coffee pot.  The pot is full of dark liquid, and you are taking the word of God and placing the equivalent of one pure ice cube into that pot every day.  A little bit of dark coffee will spill out, and the ice cube will melt and dilute into the coffee.  Change won’t be obvious right away, but doing this daily, eventually the coffee pot will get purer and clearer, until eventually no more traces of coffee are left, and eventually the whole pot is pure.  This is my opinion of what kind of things happen as we renew our mind with the Word of God (Romans 12:2), and it’s also necessary to get rid of and cut out of you life the things that caused that coffee pot to get so dark in the first place or else you’ll have these two different natures remaining at war with one another, rather than your spiritual nature dominating and ruling over your flesh.  If you need to avoid certain people who influence you, do so.  If you need to get rid of objects you have access to–such as internet or television, do so.  Cut the weeds out, they are not harmless.  In order to let in more light, you have get rid of the darkness.

Remember dear reader, you are an overcomer in Christ.  It is positional truth.  It’s just the battle is in your mind and takes some sowing to the Spirit.

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For other stuff to chew on, meditate on, and teachings to listen to:

F.Y.O.H. Podcast Episode 37: Is it Possible to Live a Holy Life?
Download mp3 (right click and save)

Dave Roberson Teachings – these have helped me a lot and made a tremendous impact on my mind renewing and holy living:

The Prison Is the Mind (4 part series)

Sin Shall Not Have Dominion (3 part series)

No one likes to think about going to hell. In fact, most people presume that they will go to heaven when they die. But, it was the Lord Jesus Christ who said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven: but he that does the will of My Father which is in heaven. MANY will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? And in your name have cast out demons? and in Your name done many miracles? But I will profess to them: “I never knew you: Depart from Me! You who practice lawlessness” Matt.7:21-23.

It is not enough to just say that you believe in God. Believing in the existence of God won’t save you from His wrath on Judgment Day, any more than believing in the existence of a parachute would save you when you jump out of a plane at 20,000 ft. You would need to put-on the parachute and understand how to use it, and actually pull the “rip-cord”! Otherwise, all your believing would not save you from certain death.

Jesus warns us to “…Strive to enter in at the ’small’ gate: for MANY, I say to you will seek to enter that way, and will not be able”. -Lu. 13:24.

Also, in verses 25-30 Jesus reveals what it will be like on Judgment Day. He will say to the righteous on that Day, “Well done! My good and faithful servant; Enter into the joys of your Lord!”

He will say to the wicked, “I never knew you: Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!”.

I solemnly urge all my friends & readers to ask your conscience this most important question: “In my present spiritual condition, if I should die today, which of these 2 statements would the Lord Jesus Christ say to me?”

Titus 1:15-16 reads, “Unto the pure, all things are pure. But to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure: but even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess that they know God, but in works they deny him: being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate”.

There were 2 very important reasons Jesus chose to suffer and die on the cross. The first reason is, that all of us have broken a most important law. Every one knows it’s wrong to lie, especially when THEY are the subject of the lie. Everyone knows it’s wrong to steal when someone steals from them. Everyone knows adultery is wrong when their husband or their wife does it. God has an obligation to punish all those who do these things.

The second reason for the cross is that every one of us is part of the ultimate statistic: 10 out of every 10 people will die. In fact, in the next 24 hours, approximately 146,000 people will die around the world. Perhaps, some of you will be in that number. Perhaps I will. Only God knows.

Please know that I love you all. I love you enough to tell you the truth. And please consider, this is not just my opinion. My opinion would not matter any more than anyone else’s. This is the Word of God! And these are the written words of The Lord Jesus Christ! It was He who suffered on a cruel cross to save us from our sins and the punishment you and I deserve.

He has prepared a salvation for each of us IF we will just meet His conditions of repentance, faith and continued obedience.

Remember, Jesus said, “...he that endures to the end, the same shall be saved“. -Mk.13:13.

It is alarming that many who profess to be followers of Jesus Christ will look everywhere else except the Word of God to establish their opinion about what God requires of humanity in order to escape the lake of fire and to gain eternal life in heaven. But, our opinions cannot change what God has said as recorded in the Bible. Many profess to believe that the Bible is the infallible Word of Almighty God. But how many of us LIVE in such a way as to show that we believe it to be true?

2Cor.5:17 says, “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold (see), ALL THINGS are become new.”

To all who read this note, allow me to address your conscience:

How is it with YOU?…

Have you become a new creature in Christ?

Are those people who knew you before forced to acknowledge that, there must have been a true work of Christ that could have resulted in such a radical change in YOU as they witness from day to day?

Can they see that you have set your affections on things above? Or are you “…earthly, sensual, devilish?” -Js.3:15.

Have old things passed away?

Have ALL things become new?

If NOT, you need to question your salvation! You cannot afford to be deceived about this most important subject.

Jesus Christ puts it like this:

“What shall it profit a man, if he should gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” -Mk.8:36-37.

If we do not allow Jesus Christ to save us from our sins, we deceive ourselves if we imagine we are merely saved from the consequences. If we are not pursuing perfect holiness in the fear of God, God’s word warns us, “…without which, no man shall see the Lord.” -Hebrews 12

God can only require that we love Him with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength, and love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

He does not require that we exceed our natural ability to love Him. Inability has never been the ground of our failure to please Him. It is our unwillingness to love, to trust and to obey Him that is the grounds for our guilt before a just and holy God.

We are under obligation to love, trust and obey God to the extent of our ability. God cannot, justly, require more from us.

BUT… our unwillingness to do these things forces us to see the great wickedness of our heart, and is the reason for our guilt and danger until and unless we repent and believe the Gospel.

The secret of fasting is denying yourself something you need to survive in this realm to partake of something you need to survive in the spiritual realm. Eating of that realm gives you the substance of that realm. Then you will be able to dish out here, what you have tasted of there. If you are able to resist eating, something that is essential to life; then you will be able to resist anything that the enemy temps you with.

Genesis 1:26-27 Then God said, “Let Us  make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creepy thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Here we see the creation and the call of man. Man was created in a supernatural state, and from this supernatural state of being man was to subdue the earth. Read verses 28-30 and you will see further that all creation was given by God to the authority of man, the only one created in His image.

Genesis 2:15-17 Then the Lord took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. Then the Lord commanded the man, saying “From any tree in the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

They were created in God’s presence, and  already in a supernatural state. They were called to fast the knowledge of the world. They were to live entirely off the words of God, the knowledge that comes from Him of how to cultivate the garden they were given to keep.

In verses 3:1-6 we see their reaction to His commandment.  The serpent came and tempted them to disobey God by simply eating of the knowledge of this life. They gave in to the desire for food…

Genesis 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

This was the beginning, the first age of man. And for Adam and Eve, this is all they knew. The wisdom of God was to retain the state in which they were created, living from God alone. The goal of the enemy was to get them to taste of the wisdom of the age, causing them to fall into a state of spiritual death and relinquishing their authority on the earth to the evil one. He tricked them into looking away from God and at themselves. (ref. Matthew 16:23) The temptations here are often repeated throughout Scripture and commonly referred to as: “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” When we respond as they did, looking to ourselves–our own understanding-to try to accomplish something–then it is a work of the flesh. It corrupts our perspective of living off the words of God–the supernatural state of being–to acting in accordance with the age.

Genesis 3:7-10 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. Then they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called out to him “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked so I hid myself.”

After they tasted they could see just how devastating it was. They no longer saw themselves in a supernatural state, covered in the presence of God. They now saw themselves with merely natural eyes, realizing they were naked. Their scenario is remarkably opposite of ours. They were initially supernatural, and we natural. They forsook the command of God to eat to the world. We are to forsake to the world to eat of the command of God. Now they were naked and their sins were exposed. The knowledge of the world had entered their hearts. Suddenly, they had to be sought out by God. The entire state of being, their entire world had been flipped up-side-down!

Genesis 3:21-22 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. Then the Lord God said. “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he may stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”-

No longer can man enter into God’s presence without a sacrifice being made.  In verses 23-24, God kicks man out of the garden of Eden. Why? Because God did not want man to be stuck in this state forever. He wanted to restore Him to his original state so he could fulfill what he was called to do. (ref. Eph 3:9-12) The discipline of expulsion from the garden was mercy so man would not give in again and eat of the tree of life, living forever in a fallen state.

Man forsook God, eating from a tree the knowledge of this life. He hid himself because he was naked, exposed in his sin. What did Jesus do? He forsook the world, eating only the words of the Father, hanging on a tree He sacrificed Himself so man could again come freely into God’s presence. And, just as man hid from God, God hid from Jesus, which caused Jesus to declare “My God, My God, ‘Why have You forsaken me?’ “ (ref. Mt 27:45) Jesus undid everything that was lost in the garden, understading this will shed more light on His life and ministry.

Luke 4:1 Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. In one sense; the garden was the condition of man before the fall and the wilderness was the condition of man after the fall. So here we go; satan comes to tempt Jesus in the wilderness the same way he tempted man in the garden.

Luke 4:2b-4 …And He ate nothing in those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. And the devil said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written. ‘Man shall not live on bread alone [but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God  (Mt 4:4b).]‘

Satan shows up and tries to interrupt Jesus, who is fasting-eating of heaven. He tempts Him to eat of this life. Jesus declared that man lives on the word of God. He chose the better way. When God was speaking to man in the garden, those “words” were the very food given to sustain his spiritual life.

Luke 4:5-13 The devil continued to tempt Him, but Jesus was able to resist the “lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (as some say). His obedience and denial of the wisdom of the age caused Him to overcome the age. (ref. Phil 2:5-7) We must resist the food-the wisdom of this world, and live off the Word of God.

Luke 4:14 And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread throughout all the surrounding district.

Now we see the emergence of someone who is able to fulfill the call of God in the earth! The earth subdued Adam with its temptations. Now Jesus fufills Adam’s call and subdues the earth with God’s Word.

Jesus went into the desert full of the Spirit, and He came out in the power of the Spirit. It is one thing to be full of the Spirit, and it is another to walk in the power of the Spirit. The secret is to desire something more; to eat of the things of heaven, not just the things of this life. Jesus, in John 4:32, told His disciples that He had“Food to eat they did not know about.” This is the food we must want. To eat anything that comes from the Father’s mouth, even the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table. (ref. Matthew 15:27)

What is with the manna in the wilderness? God was teaching a nation to rely on Him and break their mental bondage to Egypt.

Revelation 2:17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.

Overcoming-eating of the hidden manna. It’s not just being in the Church, but the point is to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church. Hearing what God is saying in this life will reap the reward of overcoming and make us able to eat of the hidden manna.

Luke 4:16-21 Jesus went into a synagogue and read from Isaiah this famous passage…

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed, To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.

Jesus had eaten of heaven which brought actuality to His statement. Its is one thing to teach the word and it is another thing to be the word, to show that it is alive in you. He was not just teaching Scripture, He was fulfilling it. This is when the Spirit moves, when we eat of heaven we become living fulfillments of the word. Start eating of heaven and living for eternity here and now, and that hidden manna will become His Word fufilled in your mouth.

To listen to a sermon of this message, click here.   Scroll down to the sermon player and select; The Hidden Manna.

A common reason I’ve heard that justifies not believing for miracles or divine healing, is the idea that “God wills some to be sick” or there’s some “divine purpose” behind someone’s disease or infirmity.

“I prayed, and the sickness never went away, so I guess it’s God’s will for me to be sick.”

Whatever it is people choose to believe affects what they will seek God for and how they will live their spiritual lives. Beliefs can produce total victory or total defeat–the choice is always up to us as to if we will believe God at His Word or not.

Allow me to take a whole entry to show you a SCRIPTURAL example of God’s will being done despite what the circumstances initially showed. But hold on tight, because as usual, I’m going to make sure to challenge commonly held assumptions while doing so.

The texts for our consideration are found in Matthew 17:14-21, Mark 9:14-29, Luke 9:37-43a. Each account details the time when a man brought his epileptic boy to the disciples and they were unable to heal him.

To glean from and paraphrase using all three accounts, the situation goes something like this: Jesus comes down from the mountain after His transfiguration. Mark records that the disciples were in a relatively heated argument or as the Greek literally means a “joint investigation”. In other words, the scribes and the disciples were trying to figure out how come the disciples were unable to cast the demon out of this man’s boy.

It should be noted before going any further, that in Matthew 10, and Luke 9:1-6 Jesus had already sent out the disciples in His name to preach and heal and cast out demons—and demonstrate the kingdom of the One who sent them in His name. So the disciples have already been endued with authority to do such things, such as the case here with his man’s son, only now they are unable to for some reason. And at this point chronologically in each Gospel account this is recorded in, they’ve already done such deliverances and healings themselves, through the power of God in them. They are experienced on some level and have seen results already, so the question that comes up is why no result this time?

Two spiritual matters are brought to light in this story, and usually only one of the two is focused on: this passage is usually shown to teach how certain demons can only be cast out of people by prayer and fasting. I will challenge that assumption in a moment. But we tend to forget what Jesus told this man, and what He told his disciples privately later:

“But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”  And Jesus said to him “If you can!  All things are possible for one who believes.”  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:22-24)

Belief & unbelief and faith & lack of it are a key component of the issue here.

I’ve always wondered if Jesus was being slightly sarcastic when he said “If you can!” in response to this man’s plea. IF this man knew more about Jesus before bringing his son to the disciples, he probably would know Jesus CAN, but probably the lack of ability on the part of Jesus’ disciples made him second-guess if Jesus could also. As Matthew Henry states in his commentary on this passage “Thus Christ suffers in his honour by the difficulties and follies of his disciples.” And so it still is to this day.

Jesus rebukes the demon, and it comes out of the boy. Everyone glorifies God, and Jesus enters the house He was on his way to, and the disciples then come up to Him and ask Him why they were unable to cast it out. All of you have heard and remember that He tells them “this kind can only go out by prayer and fasting.” However, if you’ve got a good Bible, there will be a note there at the end of Mark 9:29, and some translations of your Bibles will not even have verse 21 in Matthew 17 (which also states the same thing).

I get told all the time when talking about certain subjects “not to build doctrines on just one verse”, and people say that to me about speaking & praying in tongues (never mind that topic for the moment, and never mind they build their cessationist doctrines on one verse and a lot of assumptions, but anyway) for just one example. Some go so far as to “correct me” if I ever use the end of Mark 16 to say what believers are capable of because “it’s not in the original text”. If I can’t use “one” verse or passage to prove a point, neither can doctrines about this one verse be established when it’s convenient either—people can’t have it both ways when it suits their personal doctrines. But let’s look at what IS in our Bibles. Matthew’s Gospel records another component as to why they were unable to cast out the demon:

Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20)

Why does any of this even matter?

Oh boy, the mud is about to hit the fan now! If you ever want to make someone feel insulted, just imply that they lack faith in or for something. Even if you don’t say it, people somehow pick up on it and assume that if you’re saying people can have more faith for things, that that necessitates people already sometimes don’t have enough faith. Well, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Try not to be offended about it if you feel I’m talking about you, because I am. This applies to all of us for at least two reasons.

1) Faith is measurable.

All believers have a “seed”–if you will–of faith, but each of us water it and feed it at our own pace, our own amount, on our own frequency. Some people move mighty mountains, while others buckle under pressure if they don’t know how they’ll pay their $30 credit card bill that month. Frankly, NOT everybody has the same amount of faith! I don’t care if it’s politically incorrect or rude to say so!

However, I personally will never step on somebody for not believing as hard for something as I do, any more than I’d kick a baby for not walking yet. The Bible says of Jesus “a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench” (Matt.12:20). We need to be patient as believers with each other and not get frustrated with someone just because they aren’t where you’re at yet. Build them up. Edify them INTO what you’re showing them, don’t just prove them wrong and think that settles it. You may already notice my style of blog writing is that I don’t prove something to be a problem without offering what I think is a solution, or that I don’t try disproving something just to prove something wrong alone in itself, without trying to invite the reader INTO what I’m sharing. We should show others ways to increase their faith, but not jump on them for not being there yet and put blame and guilt on them.

Maybe it’s possible, after all the things the disciples had already done in their ministry with Jesus, they had not yet seen something this severe and were not ready to handle it? Is it possible maybe that they weren’t mature enough in their faith yet to handle this particular deliverance properly? Who knows, I’m just speculating and any other assumption from the text is just that—speculation. But Jesus DID tell them they had “little faith”. If I were to say to someone–no, if I were to insinuate or simply IMPLY they were unable to obtain results in something because of little faith, I’d never hear the end of it from people about how arrogant I am. But this is an honest explanation Jesus gives.

I’ve rejected before the popular Christianese saying “if you only have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains”. That is obviously not what this passage is teaching. Jesus can’t be talking here of the size of a mustard seed if he just told his disciples the reason they couldn’t do something was because the size of “their faith seed” was too small! We learn from other passages where the kingdom of God is described as a mustard seed, that it starts off small, but then grows and dominates the garden (Luke 13: 18-19)—that is something worthy of consideration. Maybe it’s likely our “faith” is something that grows and increases in time if it possesses the very characteristics of the example used to describe it—a mustard seed. Check out a previous article for further study on “mustard seed faith” for more about that.

2) This passage also shows that just because healing didn’t happen (initially anyway) doesn’t mean it was God’s will for someone to stay sick.

Not only did the disciples not accomplish something they were given authority to do (but as we established, lacked faith to carry out), Jesus Himself goes ahead and does it. This passage is not just a teaching on Jesus teaching his disciples a lesson about something—this shows Jesus is perfectly capable of healing and performing the miraculous out of His compassion, and His desire to heal is not always demonstrated properly just because of our inabilities to accomplish what He has ordained and authorized us to do.

Would it bother some people to admit that healing is NOT automatic? This seems to be the favorite evangelical/cessationist argument to use on charismatics: “why don’t you use your gift of healing to heal so and so?” I dare to say that healing hardly ever happens and operates without faith being involved on someone’s part—whether it be the healer or the “healee”—usually the healer though, because you’ll never find Jesus refusing to heal someone b/c their faith is too small to BE healed, but He does rebuke His disciples for their faith being too small TO heal others.

I hear people say all the time “well why doesn’t Benny Hinn or so and so or those charismatics go into hospitals and heal all the sick people?”  When someone says this particular statement or a derivative of it, I like to say “good idea, why don’t you do it sometime since it bothers you and you’ve noticed it’s not being done enough? God clearly put that on your heart for a reason, maybe He wants you to do it?”

It’s easy to be armchair critics and point out what others aren’t doing when we’re doing nothing ourselves, and overlook what IS being accomplished by certain other ministries, but anyway. The only person really demonstrating “automatic” healing in the Bible is Jesus–if you could call it “automatic” healing. But even Jesus Himself prayed more than once for someone for healing before they got it on their way to see the priest, they were healed (Luke 17:12-16). Let’s not make up functions for how God operates that aren’t actually in Scripture, or if they are–not to overlook other examples of healing also. Sure there were some who would touch the fringe of His garment and be healed (Matt 14:35-36, Mark 6:56), and the woman who touched His garment got healed of a blood discharge instantly upon touching him (Matt 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34), but that’s not the only way healing was transferred in Jesus’ ministry. In the future I intend on posting an entry detailing examples of healings in the Gospels not being immediate. My motivation for doing so is to give hope and encourage people not to give up so easily when it doesn’t happen right away, but to persevere. (such as the blind man who saw people as trees at first, Mark 8:22-25). There were even incidences where lepers came to Him, and Scripture records that.

I can sum up for you why some people see healing when they lay hands on the sick and others don’t.  And it’s not just faith; it’s tenacity.  Some people persist, like Jacob did for the blessing.  Some of us just give up too quickly if we don’t get results right away and not only give up, but build doctrines out of our failures like “it wasn’t God’s time” or “God doesn’t will to heal all.“

I’ve heard people reject the ministry of David Hogan, a missionary to Mexico for almost 30 years and has seen dead raisings in his ministry, because “they don’t like his attitude.” I think his “attitude” is why I trust him–it further evidences the fact it’s God working through him and it’s not man’s own ability. But I mention him because many people associate his ministry in Mexico with dead raisings and other supernatural miracles. Sure, in talking about him there almost becomes folklore and mythology in that Chuck Norris kind of way. But people forget the conditions and circumstances He lives in are FAR from what any of us even talking about him could relate to–like people have to bury their own dead, and not everyone can afford proper burials or for their loved ones to be taken to morgues and things like such. This is a man who’s been beaten within inches of his life, stabbed, shot, etc.. He’s doing hard work none of us could even relate to.

There’s places he goes where people just don’t have funerals and life insurance coverage and things like that. But specifically, people forget that the first time Hogan prayed for someone to be raised up, it didn’t happen. Nor the second time, or the third. This happened MANY times before seeing the first one rise up. And on the occasion he saw his first dead raising, he had prayed by the body for 14 hours solid before the results came–how many of us can even spend ONE hour in personal prayer?

I know you would do it differently if you were David Hogan, of course!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, circumstances can destroy any sound doctrine, and most doctrines in the church are built around failure instead of the Word of God. But how many of us are willing to persist when we lay our hands on someone and they don’t immediately show results? How many of you reading will keep going for it, or will you let your “sensibilities” tell you it’s foolish or that your evangelical peers will think you’re a flake if you speak too much about it or go “too out there” with this stuff? Having our theological “if God wants them healed He will heal them Himself” ducks in a row more often than not is an excuse for inaction.

Are you afraid if you go up to that person in a wheelchair you might look stupid? Trust me, you will look stupid, so quit worrying about it. I remember being in Charlotte, North Carolina a couple of years back, and was at Concord Mills Mall with some FIRE students. I chickened out the first two times I saw someone in a wheelchair. I made those same excuses to myself as everybody else does. But then it grated on me–”well, no guts, no glory“. The third person I saw, I went up to him, and he said no. Dang. I really was in the zone too! Then it dawned on me, what’s the worst that could happen? They say no if you ask? Or they don’t immediately get up if they do let you pray for them?

Allow me to finish with this and share other thoughts some other time, some other entry: What if, in order to get the breakthrough, God told you first to pray for a thousand people who would not be healed, before you started seeing healings regularly? If you have a brain, you’ll lay your hands on everything that lets you until you’ve reached number 1000! Then, go back to the first person and pray for them now that it’s working.

“Steve, God will not allow many people to operate in healing, because it will cause people to fall into pride”. Right, like you’ve never been in pride before! And God would keep somebody sick in order to avoid having you fall into pride? THAT is pride already!

Trust me, there is NO reason for anyone not to go for it we just make all the excuses in the world out of fear of failure, fear of rejection on the part of the person we seek to heal. Fear of taking responsibility for a miracle God enabled believers to do.

You’ll never know now will you if you don’t go for it…

Check out a really thorough teaching on faith and growing in it that I preached in Holland at a FIRE Summer School one year if you want to dwell more on these themes:
Download mp3 (right click and save)

Revival……another definition would be to recover, repair or restore. Hosea 10:12 says: “Sow to yourself in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek the Lord till He come and reign righteousness upon you.”

What is fallow ground? Fallow ground is ground that has been fruitful, and then it has been plowed over, and no seed has been sown in it, and therefore it has become unproductive.
Notice, there is a human emphasis here — it says that we are to break up — you break up your fallow ground.

Now take another aspect of it here in Psalm 85:6 “Would Thou not revive us again: that Thy people may rejoice in Thee.” So, there is an absence of joy, of vitality — there is an absence of ecstasy.

The very word “revive” presupposes life. You can only revive what has already had vitality — life that has become sick, weak, or apathetic. I think the nearest analogy I can give you is a recent case of a man who apparently drowned. He had been under the water for an incredible amount of time. Then somebody pulled him out and worked and worked on him, and eventually life came again. This is actually what it means to revive,
It means to revitalize.
It means to restore lost power.
It means to recover lost energy.

In the Acts of the Apostles 3:19 we read, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” Whatever else we say about revival we have to recognize this, that revival is an act of mercy in the sovereignty of God.

There is a vast difference between revival and evangelism. When we speak of revival in America we think of church advertising, “Our revival will begin next Sunday night at a certain time and it is going to finish the next Sunday night at a certain time.” Obviously this is something purely mechanical, it is something which men have engineered.

I think that one of the offenses of revival, in the historic sense, is that it cannot be organized. As Doctor Tozer said, “When revival comes it changes the moral climate of a community.”
You can have revival that covers a church — Spurgeon had that.
You can have a revival that covers a city.
You can have a revival that covers the whole nation — and I am thinking in this context more than in the other contexts (though sometimes revival spreads from here to there — like fire spreads.)

Revival cannot be organized — evangelism can be organized.
Revival cannot be subsidized — evangelism can and usually it must be.
Revival cannot be advertised — evangelism can.

It may cost millions of dollars, as it often does, to have one of our huge,modern, so called revivals. You have to pay vast sums of money for time on TV, for example — perhaps a million dollars a night.  That’s incredible, that’s unthinkable to me in the context of Biblical revival, or even historical revival.

Why doesn’t revival need to be advertised? For the simple reason, that fire is the most self advertising thing that there is, whether it is a physical fire or a revival fire. It draws people like a magnet.

To bring this down to modern technology — revival cannot be computerized. There is information that you can put in computer and presto, you get the answer predicting an outcome according to the facts that were put in. But you cannot computerize or predict revival. There are periods in which one thing predominates.

Sometimes revival is totally taken over by sorrow.
Sometimes revival is totally taken over by joy, ecstasy ’till you don’t know whether you are in the flesh or whether you’ve gone out of the earth.
Sometimes revival is taken over by stillness.

Revival cannot be rationalized. Again, one of the offensive things about revival is you can’t put your finger on the spot, usually, as to how or why or where it began. It is supremely an act of God.
You find a man would go with a series of messages to a community and before long that community is alive, it’s throbbing. He goes to another town with exactly the same group of men, the same type of prayer is poured out, the same sweat and soul travail and there is no response.

You can’t predict and you can’t organize revival. Why? Because you can’t organize where the wind is coming from. The Spirit, the wind, bloweth where it listeth. If you say it’s going to come this way, it comes that way. If you say God’s going to use that man, very often He doesn’t even bother with that man. Revival so often comes through unknown characters.

I don’t think the world has ever been in a greater sense of turmoil than it is in this moment. I don’t think our nation has. Whatever we shall say about revival we have to recognize this: There are three things about natural life: conception, gestation, and birth. You can’t alter the program. There has never been revival, that I can trace, that has not been preceded by agonizing prayer. You might say, “I haven’t got to that stage yet of agonizing prayer. How does is come?” Well, it comes through VISION.

If we are really going to get a concept of revival we have to get a vision of God’s sorrow over sin. We have to get a concept of how, day by day, we offend God. As a nation we offend God in millions of ways.

When I was praying in the Bahamas one day, I saw a great column of smoke, which happened to be coming from tires that were being burned. It was as black as could be, and over there I saw a wisp of smoke going up from the ground. I didn’t think much of it until about a year after, I was praying and the Lord said, “That volume of black, thick smoke is like the volume of sin that goes up every day.” All the blasphemy, all the unbelief, all the dirty stories, all the lying, all the deception, all sex-perversion, all drunkenness — this tremendous column of iniquity goes up in the sight of God. And here you have a little wisp — of what? That is the praise that God gets out of His people. If we are going to realize how much we need revival we need to recognize the dimension of sin. We have to recognize that sin offends God.

Psalm 85:4 says, “Turn us, O God of our salvation and cause Thine anger towards us to cease. Wilt Thou be angry with us forever?” Psalm 80 verse 3, “Turn us again, O God, and cause Thy face to shine.” Notice, it’s repeated again in verse 7 and in verse 19, “…cause Thy face to shine.” “…cause Thy face to shine.” You know, I think one of the awesome tragedies of our day is this: the people of Israel could not live if God turned His face away from them and seems now we cannot live if God turns His face on us!

The awesomeness of God’s presence… The awesomeness of God’s majesty…
We’ve had meetings, in the last month particularly, where I would sit down at the end of the meeting. I didn’t know what to do with it, and the pastor said, “Well, I can’t handle a meeting like this, what do you do?” The invasion of God’s power was so awesome that there was no way that you could handle it, so you just let the meeting ride itself out. We were having meetings five hours long, beginning at seven at night and finishing at midnight. College students came, and university people, and business people. When God comes, our social distinctions don’t matter, our intellectual distinctions don’t matter. There is an overwhelming sense that God is dealing, not with my intellect, not with my body, not with my emotions so much as with the inner man… the inner being… the inner temple which He wants to indwell.

Isn’t it amazing that with all the Iatola Khomeni has done, he has done some good things. He kicked liquor out of the country. Our president daren’t do that. Last week he called his whole nation to five days of prayer and fasting. Do you think we have anybody in Washington who has enough insight to do that? With all the talk of spirituality they don’t have enough sense to do that.

Joel speaks about the priests, the ministers of God. Look at Joel 1:13, “Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl ye ministers of the altar, come lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God.” Go over to verse 12 of the 2nd chapter, “Turn ye now even to Me with all your heart and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments.” Come down to verse 17, “Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare Thy people, O Lord, and give not Thine heritage to reproach.”

Now, how do you get to that state? There is no way you can jump to that level in ten minutes.
It is an operation.
It’s a process.
It’s a preparation.
There has to be an individual breaking up of fallow ground in me. What is there in my individual life that obstructs the flow of the Spirit?
If you are going to break up fallow ground you have to get your own life into a state of discipline — and we are the most undisciplined generation of believers ever. There is no way of getting to revival unless previously there comes brokenness.

What God wants is not to fill up empty pews.
He is not concerned about filling empty churches,
He is concerned about filling empty hearts.
And empty lives, and empty eyes that have no vision;
Empty hearts that have no passion,
And empty wills that have no purpose.

Have you ever thought about the enormity of the Jewish system? A great monolith of priests and Levites, and offerings and sacrifices, and new moons and Sabbaths, and Urim and Thumin. Then suddenly God puts one solitary individual there and he has one commission. “You go and prepare the way of the Lord.”

But he has all this against him:
At least 2000 priests, a senior priest and elaborate temple.
A system of buying and selling cattle and other things for sacrifice.
An outer court, where you could come to a priest and tell him of your sin and
your guilt and he would make an offering for you. And this fellow comes and he is saying that
The religious system is all obsolete
That God is going to manifest Himself independent of all of that.
And that there is Somebody Else!
They say, “You must be the man.” He says, “Oh, no, no, no! I am not the One. I am just coming to prepare the way of the Lord.”

Now think of the sorrow of God after Adam failed. Think of the sorrow of God after the whole system that He’d inaugurated failed. Think of something which may be even more awesome still:

Think of the fact that 2000 years have lapsed since Jesus came and did a full work of redemption… and the church is still dragging its feet today!

The human dilemma that we are in right now is that we have never been in a lower point. People say sometimes, “Don’t worry, we have got out of situations like this.” Oh, no! We haven’t. Don’t you fool yourself. We’ve never gotten out of situation like this. You know why? Because we have never been in a situation like this. That’s why!

We’ve never had difficulties like this. We’ve never had this plague of divorce. We’ve never had a million girls under 16 becoming pregnant, like last year. What did they say the night before last on the news, “Tonight 20,000 girls over the nation will get pregnant.” Sex is a sport. Immorality is an accepted way of life.
People say there are fewer divorces than last year. Well, how do you expect any more when they don’t get married? They did get married at one time and got divorced. They don’t even bother to get married now, just live together. Have a baby, so what? “We agree to part,” that’s it. So we are a broken nation. Never, never in our history did we need revival more than today, the day in which we live. But you don’t wish revival… there is no such thing.

People say to me all over the country, “I am interested in revival.” I say, “Yes, so are a million other Americans.”
I find all kinds of people interested in it. I don’t find many people burdened for it. People are very interested in revival, but we don’t start to break the fallow ground. We don’t prepare the way of the Lord.

I remember as a little boy I used to go to bed at night with a candle… you never had that joy, did you? I remember thinking how many other candles you could bring and light off that candle? I wonder and I wonder. I never found an answer, but I often used to wonder.

It was Charles Wesley who wrote the hymn, “See how great a flame aspires, kindled by a spark of grace.Jesus’ love the nations fires, sets the kingdoms all ablaze. To bring fire on earth He came, kindled in some hearts it is, Oh that all might catch the blaze, all partake the glorious bliss.”

Jesus said, “To bring fire on earth have I come.” Did you hear anybody preach on that text? What kind of fire? Well, surely not hell fire. Holy Ghost fire!
The most devastating fire of all is not the fire that consumes a building. It isn’t even the fire of hell.
The greatest, most devastating fire, is the fire of God.
We say, “God is love, God is love, God is love…”And yet our God is a consuming fire. “Who shall abide the day of His coming,”
Malachi says. “He is like a refiner’s fire.”
Mathew 3:16, “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and Fire.” But you see, that aspect is not stressed in the day in which we live.

Everybody talks about the baptism. So what do you mean by the baptism? There is a baptism with the Holy Ghost and Fire. Not just with the Holy Ghost, but with Fire. When He comes He will “thoroughly purge His floor and burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire”. Which, again,
can happen individually,
or it can happen in a church,
or it can come and work through a whole community
or it can work through a whole nation.

There will be a thousand people who, if you get a heart and a vision, will say, “Oh, you’ve got tunnel vision.” Hmm? Well, I think the one reason why the Apostle Paul conquered… and triumphed… and out-smarted us… and out-suffered us… and out-prayed us… and out-sacrificed us… and out-preached us was because he settled for one thing: “This one thing I do.”
You’ve got to have one vision,
You’ve got to have one heart,
You’ve got to have one purpose,

“This one thing I do…” I sell out to God’s will totally.

Well, what does this become? Well, I believe this thing becomes an obsession, as I was saying to a brother this morning. For fifty years I’ve wept, and I’ve prayed, and I’ve groaned, and I’ve read, and I’ve fasted, and I’ve met with guys for nights of prayer, and days of prayer, and days and days of prayer, for revival. There isn’t much sign of it. Well, are you sure? You see, prayers never die.

“What are these under the altar? The prayer of saints.” You never pray a prayer that is born of God without it being on record with God. God never wastes anything. Do you think you and I have prayers born of grief, born of anguish, born of desire to see an overthrow of iniquity, (for after all that is what revival is) and you think God will let them die?

Now again, the shadow of darkness and death is over this generation like nothing we’ve ever had before. And yet, the greatest tragedy of all is this: a sick church in a dying world. We have neither the vision nor the passion, nor at this moment, the intention of setting our house in order — “to break the fallow ground” — to prepare the way of the Lord.

My hope is that as we go on here we are not just going to gather information and statistics about revival, but that we are going to individually seek personal revival.

Copyright © 1994 by Leonard Ravenhill – http://www.ravenhill.org

Books by Leonard Ravenhill:

Why Revival Tarries

Revival Praying: An Urgent and Powerful Message for The Family of Christ