

ARISE   
AND   
SHINE

Discover Who God

Created You to Be

Andrew Mullek
Arise and Shine

By Andrew Mullek

Copyright © 2018 Andrew Mullek

Smashwords Edition

ISBN-13: 978-1983607387

Scripture quotations are taken from the NIV Bible,   
copyright ©1985, 1995, 2002 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Used with permission from Zondervan.

Any emphasis added is my own.

You are welcome to share this book, make copies and   
freely distribute it for non-commercial purposes.

Freely we receive, freely we should give.
Acknowledgements

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever ever! Amen" (Ephesians 3:20-21).
Dedication

This book is dedicated to my students and co-laborers for Christ in South Africa. I am forever indebted for all that God did for me while in South Africa. God redeemed and established my life during that season and gave me the opportunity to minister and to grow in the truths presented on the following pages.

To Gateway Church, The King's Court Christian School and Pfunanane Ministries: you have modeled what it means to arise and shine. It has been my delight to partner with you to see the kingdom of God advance. God has raised up a generation of world changers through these ministries and my prayer for you is that you will continue to SHINE brightly on behalf of the King of Glory.
Introduction

Arise and Shine

A story is told about a farmer who came across an abandoned baby eagle. He rescued the eaglet and brought it home to live with his chickens. The eagle was accepted by the chickens and was treated like all of the other chicks. From there, an interesting thing happened. As the eagle grew up, it acted like a chicken and not like an eagle. He started to strut like a chicken and cluck like a chicken. Even though eagles are the king of the sky and swoop down on their prey, this eagle pecked at the ground for food. What's more, he never flew. He had the capacity to fly away and to rule majestically, but he scrounged around in the dirt for seeds and bugs. Since he had never been around eagles, he only knew how to be a chicken. Even though he saw birds flying overhead, he believed flying was simply not something he was meant to do.

One day the chickens began to wildly screech and run into their pen. They had spotted a huge eagle descending from the sky, diving toward the eaglet. The young eagle looked up and froze. He was mesmerized by the sight of something like himself. Not realizing it, he was viewing his mother for the first time. Right before the mother eagle hit the ground she stretched out her wings and flapped violently, creating a rush of wind over the young eagle that lifted him off the ground. With that lift and a flap of his wings, the young eagle began to fly for the very first time. In an instant, he discovered his purpose.

Like the eagle, we are born to fly but we spend a lot more time than we should with our head on the ground. We act like chickens when we were created to be eagles. We scratch in the dirt while we were meant to soar on the heights. The evidence is everywhere. The world does not have any answers. Even something as fundamental as gender has now been confused. We cannot know who we were meant to be if we only listen to the chickens. This book is a journey to help us understand who we really are. If you allow it, it will be the gust of wind that will lift you off the ground and get you flying as you were meant to.

There is a beautiful verse in Isaiah that tells us to "arise" and "shine" (60:1). This verse speaks to what is inside of us. We cannot shine if we do not contain a source of light within us. Jesus confirmed this when He called us the light of the world. When we fail to understand who we are, we put our light under a basket. Instead of being the city on the hill that shines and the salt of the earth that gives flavor to the things around us, we live buried in wrong ideas about ourselves. Too often our spiritual experiences are little more than looking up and seeing others fly. We know it is what we were meant for, and we long for it to a degree, but then we get busy again searching for worms on the ground. When are we finally going to take Jesus at His Word, and believe we are who He says we are? It is time to "arise" and soar on the wings of eagles. It is time to "shine "out the fullness of what God has for us.

I've had the privilege of seeing a group of students arise and shine. God took a generation of students from The King's Court Christian School in South Africa and began to use them mightily. Isaiah 60:1 was our school verse:"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you." It was amazing to watch as these young people went from believing they were chickens to understanding that they were truly eagles.

This is a book about identity. When we discover who we are, the outcome will be the fulfillment of that verse. I cannot wait to hear your testimony as you discover what the Father says about you!
Part I

Purpose: Created on Purpose,   
with Purpose and for a Purpose
Chapter 1

Before Birth

People everywhere are struggling to "find themselves." Their insecurities lie just beneath the surface. Many are defined by how others see them and by their achievements, such as how their career is progressing, how much stuff they have, etc. We need to understand that if we fail to find our identity in what God says about us, we will find it in something else, and it will at best fall miserably short of His intention and purpose for our lives. At worst, we'll get sidetracked completely and live exactly opposite of the way He intended.

Our true identity needs to be defined by our Father. He understands us better than we could ever understand ourselves. He sees our beginning and our end, and He knows what He has called us to. In fact, God is the one who fashioned us to look like we do. He "knit" us together from conception. We are not a mistake. The way we look is just how He wanted us to look. Psalm 139:13-16 puts it so beautifully:

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depth of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

God designed us according to His good pleasure, and we are part of the wonderful work David refers to in this Psalm. When we were just a bundle of cells, He already knew the number of hairs on our head and what our features would look like.

What's even more profound is that God knew us before He made us. He actually intentioned our birth with His purposes in mind. This is a really big deal. In the grand scheme of time, He saw me before I was conceived, and He had a plan and a purpose for my life. Psalm 139 says our life was "ordained." If I told you that I was ordained, and asked what that meant, you might say something along the lines of my being appointed for the work of ministry. If we took it a little deeper we might also consider that my appointment carried God's approval and calling. In other words, my being ordained would mean that God was backing my position with His anointing. As a result, I carry a special grace to do His work. This is what ordained should mean.

Now consider that Psalm 139 tells us that ALL our days were ordained before the first one took place. That speaks powerfully to the purpose of God we carry each and every day. Our presence in a place makes that place significant in the world simply because each day of our life has already been ordained.

Before I knew I existed, He knew me. Before my parents had any idea they were going to have a son, He knew me. You may need to brace yourself for this next one...Before the world was created, He knew me.

Ephesians 1:4 tells us, "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will." We need to let this sink in. Before Genesis 1:1, God knew us, chose us, predestined us and adopted us in love. The implications here are profound. If God saw us as we are today before He spoke the worlds into being, then it means He knew what it would cost Him to create us.

I often picture God, the Holy Spirit and Jesus drinking coffee together and discussing the idea of creating mankind. As an aside, isn't it cool that God talks to Himself...you know, the whole "three in one" thing? I picture the Father suggesting sharing the love of God with created beings – humans. I can see the Holy Spirit and Jesus getting excited about the idea. This is where I imagine the Holy Spirit starting to get animated and creative. I then picture Jesus growing contemplative as He realizes that creation may not choose to reciprocate God's love. The mood shifts when Jesus comments that creation may not always be perfect in God's love as it should be. The Father, knowing the future, looks Jesus in the eye, and says, "Yes, my son, they will need a Savior."I then picture Jesus looking back to God and saying, "I'll do it."

While this is my personal version of the dialogue that led to our creation, Jesus did know the price He would pay before He ever chose to create us. God is the beginning and the end. In fact, John opens his gospel in the same language that Genesis begins with:"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning"(1:1-2). The Word that was with God in the beginning (before Creation) was Jesus and through Jesus, all things were made (John 1:3). Furthermore, we know that God transcends time and space, so He already foresaw the cross and prophesied about it throughout the Old Testament. Peter explains Jesus was chosen as a sacrifice "before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these times for your sake" (1 Peter 1:20).

This in no way implies that Adam and Eve did not have free will. Just because God knows the choice I will make does not mean it is somehow not my choice. Nor does it mean He will not continue to give me as many choices as I need to make the right decision.

How incredible it is that God saw us before Creation and decided that we were worth the cost. We were worth redeeming. Ephesians 1:4 says that He even saw us as perfect and blameless. There's just one problem with that. We're not perfect. The only way God could have seen us as being perfect is if He saw us through the righteousness provided by Jesus' death and resurrection.

Jesus saw us and knew us before He created us, and it is for that reason He was able to endure the cross "for the joy set before him" (Hebrews 12:2). We were His joy. The cross was worth it because He saw us in the light of our redemption. Going back to the coffee table discussion, Jesus foresaw the cross when He agreed to create man. He saw our redemption through the cross and decided we were worth it.

This makes me feel really special and loved!

I have a problem with thought processes that undermine our identity as the center of God's creative plan. I struggle with new evolutionary ideas that make people feel like they are just the circumstantial product of a cosmic burp. The trending worldview is that we are the result of a speck of dirt exploding and billions of years of minor adaptations. The more time we add to our "history," the more "anything can happen." We have forgotten that history is His story, and we are at the center of it. We are not an accident, nor are we formed by chance. We were created with intent and purpose, and we were known by God before Genesis 1:1 was spoken into being. It is a profound truth that the entire universe is the result of a "single spoken sentence" or "one verse." Everything we see is a result of that one verse, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

Evolution has done incredible damage. It has completely undermined our identity as being intentionally created in the image of God. We should reject anything that tells us that we are less than what we really we. We incorrectly tell people they are just animals and then are surprised when they act that way.

Once, on a trip to the airport, some teenagers traveling with me were talking about how big outer space was. The discussion veered toward whether there was other life in space. Most of us have probably had this conversation at one point or another. One of the teens mentioned that they believed there must be aliens; otherwise, it was all a waste of space. I suddenly realized that this line of thinking is the product of someone believing they aren't really special.

What if all of that "space" really is just about us? What if we really are that significant and we are the center of His story? What if God made it all so we could see His vastness and glory, and that just when we thought we understood the scope of that one verse, we find out that the Universe is bigger than we ever imagined? What if it is all there to give glory to our God, as the Bible says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the earth" (Psalm 19:1-4)? This psalm was written by David thousands of years ago. We now know that the stars actually do make a noise. They have a sound just as David said. I am amazed that David had this supernatural revelation long before the technology was there to confirm it.

We are not the result of a cosmic burp that happened billions of years ago, nor are we the result of a mistake or an accident our parents made. We have often heard someone say "this child was not planned," or "You were an accident." Such a thought implies that we have full control over when we have children. What's worse is the implication that a specific child was a mistake. How arrogant and damaging. There are no errors when it comes to our existence. God foresaw everything and purposed us for His good will. We are the joy set before Him.

Too many people have lived life being told they were not really supposed to exist for

whatever reason. Their parents were not trying to have children. They were not expecting another child. They were the product of a one-night stand. They were the result of a mistake. And the list goes on and on. No wonder so many people struggle with rejection. When I understand that God has always known me, it totally changes the way I see myself. Some of us need to allow the Father to heal the wound in our heart that says we are unloved or unwanted or unplanned. He's been planning a great future for us for a very long time, but we will not embrace it if we live under such deception.

It is the most empowering thought to realize that all I see was created because God saw me before Creation. He wanted to have a relationship with me and decided I was worth the price. I was worth the cross. The apostle Paul puts it like this: "You were bought at a price" (1 Corinthians 6:20). If I want to know the value of something, I look at its price tag. Our "price tag" is the life of Jesus Christ. That gives new meaning to the word "priceless."

When we begin to see ourselves as He does, we cannot help but be empowered, and any deception that contradicts His truth will sadly disempower us. It is my hope as this book progresses that we will know the Truth and that He will set us free.

* * *

 http://earthsky.org/space/do-stars-make-sounds
Discussion Questions

  1. How does it affect you to know that God decided that you were worth the cross before He ever created the world?
  2. Have you ever been told that you were a mistake or unplanned? Take a moment and allow the truth that God planned your existence a long time ago and that He delights in you, to minister to your heart.

Chapter 2

Maximum Impact

I daydreamed often as a child. While I was playing basketball, I would picture myself making the game winning shot in the NBA finals. I had many of these kind of thoughts. Even as an adult I still have grand imaginations. All these dreams are so much bigger than me. They are not realistic or possible, but they illustrate that we were designed by God to have big dreams. In fact, a major key to understanding our identity is knowing that we are fashioned by God for maximum impact. Our life is supposed to matter...greatly. We were made for a purpose and we need to live on purpose.

Have you ever wondered what your life would have been like if you were born in a different place, or a different time or even to different parents? I have. I've wondered what life would have been like if I were born hundreds of years earlier and what role I might have played in the American Revolution. What would have happened if I were born in poverty in Africa?

God could have placed me in a different time. He could have placed me in a different country. He could have given us all different parents. But He didn't. Instead, the Bible clearly tells us that He chose the time and place where we would live: "he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live" (Acts 17:26). God predetermined where and when I would enter this world, and He did so with my destiny in mind. God has actually assigned me to this generation (1 Corinthians 7:17), and His anointing rests on the assignment. In other words, He placed me in the time and with the right people where I could have a maximum impact. I am exactly where I am, with the background I have, and the gifts I have so I can achieve His full purpose for my life.

I've often found fault with my parents (as many of us have) and indirectly doubted God. Yet, we cannot look at our parents' failures and feel that God has failed us. God uses all things for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28), and so my parents' faults actually provide a platform for me to walk in my destiny. This looks different for different people, but God knew my parents' faults before I was born, and still He chose to place me in that family. Their weaknesses actually provide an opportunity for me to find God's strength, and to develop my own.

A Time Such as This

We are a lot like Esther. In short, she was an undercover Jew who managed to become the queen of Persia. When Haman attempted to annihilate the entire Jewish race (much like Hitler tried to do), Esther, as the queen, was in a position to do something about it. Of course, she was nervous and afraid, because she was not sure her petition to the king would be successful. To complicate this situation, breaking protocol to speak to the king could come at the expense of her life. Her cousin Mordecai responded to her fears and doubts with a very profound statement: "who knows but that you have come to royal position for a time such as this" (Esther 4:14). Mordecai cut across all of her misgivings with the revelation that she had been strategically placed by God in terms of her position, her location and her timing. As the story unfolded, Esther interceded to save her people, and the intentional nature of God's plan for her life became clear.

We need to understand that we are where we are for a time such as this. God has placed us here for this time. This is a good thing. Jesus said that the ancients of the faith longed to see what the people of his day were seeing and hear what they were hearing (Mathew 13:17). This statement has never been truer. Peter said the prophets searched intently and with the greatest of care to understand the times we live in and that "even the angels long to look into these things" (1 Peter 1:10-12).

As you will see later in this book, we are living in the most compelling time in history. We live under the greatest dispensation known to man, and many before us longed to see the days we live in. We have been chosen for this time, for a time such as this. The day we lose our sense of purpose is the day we begin to die inside. Have you ever noticed that some old people die very soon after their spouse dies? Their purposes were so intertwined that the surviving spouse no longer has vision for the future. This happens too when someone loses their ability to drive or care for themselves and ends up in a nursing home. Some people cannot find a sense of purpose in those circumstances and they give up on life. I'm using elderly people to highlight what happens to all of us when we don't believe we have a purpose. We need to learn from this, and make certain our circumstances do not determine our purpose. Rather, we need to pursue what God has for us in each season of life. All of our days are ordained, which means each one is eternally significant.

God's Plan for Us Is Beyond Belief

We need to understand that the plan of God for our lives is beyond belief. It's actually laughable. Sarah laughed when the angel told Abraham his wife would have a child within a year. The plan was preposterous and beyond her wildest dreams. Still, it was the plan of God for their lives. So it is with us. If God unfolded His full intended plan for your life or mine, we would be blown away. We'd likely laugh at it. Certainly others would laugh at us if we shared with them God's extraordinary plan for our future.

Think of any person in the Bible. Go ahead...get someone in mind.

I'd be willing to bet the person you have in mind lived a life that was beyond belief for his or her time. I would suggest that their contemporaries would have laughed at them if they spoke about God's vision for their lives.

Let's think about this: Noah was asked to build a boat to prepare for an event that was beyond people's imagination. It had likely never rained before, and Noah was meant to build an ark to withstand a FLOOD and he was to put animals of every kind in there. I'm pretty sure Noah's friends wrote him off when he told them he was building a boat in the desert because water was going to fall from the sky.

Abraham was told he would have a child at the age of seventy-five with a barren wife. Moses was told to approach the most-powerful man in the world with a stick and demand that he release his work force. Gideon was commanded to fight a force of 135,000 men with an army of only 300. What's more, God asked him to do so with unconventional weapons: a jar, a torch and a horn. The list goes on to include anybody who ever played a role in 'His'tory, which includes both those stories recorded on earth and those recorded in heaven.

Heaven's History Books

Some people's stories will only be told in heaven. There are books in heaven other than the Book of Life, and I believe that at least some of them contain our stories. Psalm 139, which we looked at in the last chapter, says, "all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be" (vs 16). God has a book with all our personal stories in it that was written before we were born. In Revelation, books are opened and the dead are judged based on "what they had done as recorded in the books" (20:12). Some will have more written about them than others. In fact, it's a sobering thought that our history may fall short of all God had in store when He created us.

I often joke that I can't wait to watch a certain person's DVD in heaven. It is certainly true that our personal history is already recorded there, and I believe we'll get to see the deeds of the righteous in heaven. Eternity is a long time, and my guess is that for some of that time we'll be celebrating the work of God through the lives of the saints.

We need to understand that the Bible records the way God worked through the lives of real people. People mistakenly assume that since the Bible is no longer being written, God is no longer working through people's lives...at least not the way we see in the Bible. This is simply not the case.

Sadly, many churches are teaching theology based on their personal experience instead of waiting and trusting that their experience will conform to God's ways. It goes something like this: I haven't experienced a miraculous life myself so my conclusion (and therefore my theology) is that God no longer desires his people to live supernaturally. This is wrong on so many levels.

God not only wants us to live lives beyond belief, He was so convinced it would happen that Jesus said, "anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father" (John 14:12). How's that for beyond belief? In light of this verse and many others, there is no way I can conclude that I do not have a supernatural destiny.

There is only one necessary ingredient to fulfill our destiny in the kingdom: faith. Jesus tells us that whoever has faith can do what He does. Notice Jesus used the word "anyone" in John 14:12. That means you and me. I know how crazy this sounds, but it's God's word for our lives, and we need faith to accept it. If we apply genuine faith to the promises of God, we will live out a destiny that our contemporaries will find absurdly impossible. The one thing that made the heroes in the Bible different from the other people in their time was faith. They were just normal people who dared to believe God wanted to use them in ways that were beyond their ability.

Moses is a great example of this. Like all of us, Moses "was no ordinary child" (Acts 7:20). He was born with purpose and on purpose. He realized at a young age that God had an important plan for his life that was beyond belief. Before God ever came to Moses in the burning bush, Moses knew he had a ridiculously large calling. Stephen explained to the Sanhedrin that when Moses killed the Egyptian, he "thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not" (Acts 7:25). Forty years before the burning bush, Moses had his destiny in his heart. He somehow knew that he was supposed to help save his people from Pharaoh's oppression.

The problem was that Moses thought he could somehow achieve this in his own ability. What he failed to understand was that God's plan was so massive Moses couldn't even come close to achieving it in his own strength. Moses was forced to flee Egypt after killing the Egyptian, and he spent the next forty years looking after sheep in the middle of nowhere. During those years, Moses came to understand that the only possible way he would ever walk in what God had for him was by faith in God. When God appeared to him in the burning bush, Moses was prepared to trust God with what was burning in his heart. From that point forward, God was able to do the "impossible" through Moses' life.

Moses had heaven's history in his heart at the age of forty, and his parents recognized the plan of God for his life when he was a baby. Still, he only began to operate in God's plan at the age of eighty when he finally came to the point of having faith in God and in God's ability to do amazing things through him. The destiny was always there, but it only came to pass when Moses accepted it by faith in God.

We have been predestined for greatness. Kris Valloton from Bethel Church writes, "I cannot help but notice that all twelve of the men who hung out with Jesus, although they came from different occupations and backgrounds, eventually had one thing in common. They all thought they were supposed to be great. There is something about the presence of Jesus that causes people to dream of prominence, grandeur and greatness." God wants us to believe we're destined to do great things. The enemy does not. The devil knows our destiny means his demise. We need to stop questioning our significance and start listening to what our Father says about us!

* * *

 Kris Vallotton, Heavy Rain: How to Flood Your World with God's Transforming Power (Bloomington, MN: Chosen Books, 2016), 183.
Discussion Questions

  1. Has God put great dreams in your heart? What are they?
  2. How can you trust God (and not yourself) to see these dreams come to pass?
  3. Do you believe that God wants to use your life in a supernatural way? Have you put any limits on God by thinking that something is "impossible?"

Chapter 3

What Is in Your hand?

I can imagine what you are thinking: the idea of a Moses-like destiny sounds great, but there are a million reasons why you are just not that extraordinary. It's very easy to see why we cannot do something. This is even truer when it comes to the things of God. Natural realities and challenges quickly get in the way of the supernatural call. Part of what is holding us back from fulfilling our identity is that we look at what's missing, instead of focusing on what God has given us.

When God called Moses to challenge Pharaoh, the most powerful man in the world at the time, Moses felt inadequate to say the least. In Exodus 3-4, Moses gave five reasons why he could not do what God had called him to do. This exchange might have gone on much longer if God did not get angry with Moses' fifth excuse. Do you have any idea what angered God? It was when Moses told God to send someone else. God was working through Moses' insecurities, but when Moses said that God should get another person, God got angry. This tells me that Moses' destiny was unique...like ours.

At one point in this discussion Moses asks God, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The Lord did not appear to you.'?" (Exodus 4:1). The Lord's response here is striking. He asks Moses, "What is in your hand?" Moses answers that he is holding a staff, and God has Moses throw it to the ground. The staff became a snake and a sign that God's power was with Moses.

Too often we complicate the call of God by looking at what we don't have. As with Moses, I believe God is asking us "What do you have in your hand?" Whatever we have access to or jurisdiction over is enough for God to use. People look at a lack of money, resources, training, recognition, influence, etc., as reasons why they are inadequate to live out their incredible destiny. Meanwhile, God never called us to do the possible anyway. He simply wants us to take notice of what He has given us, and to trust Him with the rest.

We need to stop looking at what God isn't doing and start to focus on what He is doing. What has God given you? For example, if you work in a restaurant, then don't spend your time complaining about your situation. Use the restaurant as your platform. Understand that you have a field of influence among your co-workers. You have an opportunity to show grace to your manager. You have an opportunity to serve customers. You receive money that is a blessing. You have so much at hand, and God's supernatural touch on what you already have will create opportunities beyond belief.

You may not have much money, but look at the money you do have, and ask the Lord to help you use it wisely. You may not have a lot of training, but ask the Lord to bless you in what you do have. We tend to overcomplicate God and the kingdom. Let's not forget that Paul did not consult anyone before sharing the gospel he believed in (Galatians 1:16).

I've been walking a road with a new believer who recently went through an extreme deliverance, and was set free from several problem areas in her life. Now she is truly a new creation in Christ and wants to serve God with all her heart. One day I was praying with her and her family. Before she could think about what she was asking, she asked if I needed prayer. I said yes, and she got nervous. The reason she got nervous was that she was looking at her lack of experience, and she was comparing herself to me. I explained to just pray what was on her heart. We don't need any experience to pray, but so often we feel that we do, and we look at our lack of experience as a reason why we cannot do something. She got over her fears and really blessed me with her prayer.

In the kingdom of God, a basic prayer from a sincere heart is more powerful than long-winded lip service. In the same way, a stick in the hands of a submitted Moses was infinitely more powerful that Pharaoh's great army. Anything plus the favor of God is greater than anything else without that favor. Do you get this?

God is quite happy to work with whatever you already have. In fact, you don't need anything more than you already have. You just need God. There are several biblical examples that reinforce this understanding.

A Drop in the Bucket

Have you ever felt like what you had to offer was just a drop in the bucket of what was needed? When you survey the massive need in front of you, you feel you only have a fraction of what is required to solve the problem. I think most of us feel like this most of the time, and I believe God wants us to understand something in these situations.

This is how the widow probably felt when she spoke to Elisha. Her husband had died. Not only did he leave her nothing in terms of an inheritance, he left her with considerable debt. Since she owed money, she actually had less than nothing. Can you imagine being in a situation where having zero things would be an upgrade? As a result, her two sons were going to have to be sold as slaves just to break even.

Elisha wanted to help the widow, and he asked her "What do you have in your house?" (2 Kings 4:2). She tells him she has "nothing there at all" and then she remembers there's a little bit of oil, a drop in the bucket. That was enough for God. Elisha tells her to go and collect jars and to pour that little bit of oil in them. Then God went to work. He supernaturally filled every jar with oil until they were all full. After the jars ran out, the oil stopped.

God multiplied the woman's oil in proportion to the woman's faith. Her little bit of oil was enough to fill every jar she collected in faith, and the end result was that she was able to pay her debts and live off the rest of the money. Stories like this should encourage us that God desires to use whatever we have in order to produce a supernatural result. If we constantly look at what we don't have, we'll never have faith for God to use what we do have. What's more, there will always be a deficiency somewhere. We'll never have everything we think we need to serve God. We'll only ever start to serve Him when we're prepared to use what we currently have, even if it appears to be just a drop in a bucket.

Jesus faced a similar situation when he realized that the throng of people who followed him needed something to eat. He asked his followers "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" and John notes in his gospel that this was a test, "for he already had in mind what he was going to do" (6:5-6). Jesus wanted to see whether they would look at their lack, or whether they would see what they had and trust him for the rest.

Jesus' question produced two responses. Phillip surveyed the scene and did some quick calculations. Phillip figured out that it would take a lot of money to feed those 5,000 people. He concluded that even if they had eight months' wages, they could not even offer each person a single bite of food. Phillip focused on the money and resources that were not available, and quickly reasoned that this problem was beyond them (John 6:7). Aren't we often equally guilty of seeing the lack and not the supply? Phillip was right next to the man who created everything, but he did not even consider what Jesus could do because he was so focused on what he personally did not have. He was speaking to the bread of life, but felt like he needed to scramble to get bread.

Andrew came with a different answer to the test. He went and found a boy with "five small barley loaves and two small fish" and he asked Jesus a question: "how far will they go among so many?" (John 6:9). This takes us to the heart of the story. Andrew looked at what was available and went to Jesus to ask Him what He could do with it. Notice that it was a boy who was the source of the food. Five thousand people got fed that day because of what one boy had in his hands. Children are often lightning rods for what God wants to do, but it takes people like Andrew to seek them out and value what they are carrying!

In this case, the boy did not seem to have much at all. John specifically notes that this boy had small loaves and small fish. From the sounds of it, this was his lunch. Let's not romanticize the boy's contribution. We can wrongly envision these big hot loaves of bread and two nice looking fish. That may be how movies portray the scene, but his lunch was more like five barley biscuits, which were considered cheap bread or food for the poor. His two fish were also small. Spurgeon referred to them as sardines. The boy really did not have much to offer. Given the need, his offering represented little more than a drop in an ocean. I can imagine that most would have scoffed at using five wafers and two sardines. Still, in Jesus' eyes, what he had was enough.

Jesus wanted to feed those people. When God wants us to do something, He'll make it happen in spite of our personal shortcomings! We see this happen over and over. David used the sling in his hand to kill Goliath, not a sword. Gideon used jars and trumpets in the hands of three hundred men to defeat 135,000 Midianites, not the weapons of his 22,000 person army. Joshua took over Jericho by carrying the ark, not by besieging the city. Jesus defeated the devil by carrying a cross, not by fighting him with legions of angels.

What has God put in your hands? What job has he given you? What friends do you have and what possessions and talents has He blessed you with? Therein lies your key to the great destiny to which He has called you.

* * *

 D.A. Carson & Andrew David Naselli, "John" in the NIV Zondervan Study Bible (eds. D. A. Carson et al.; New York: HarperCollins, 2002) 1639

 http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/2216.htm
Discussion Questions

  1. Have you ever hesitated to do something for God because you did not feel equipped? Can you see how this thinking will always keep you from being used by God?
  2. What things has God already given you that He might use for His kingdom? Consider your position at work, your home situation, your gifts and your passions.

Part II

Perspective
Chapter 4

Perspective – How Do We See ourselves?

Let's consider two verses written about Moses in each Testament. In Exodus, God called Moses from the burning bush to go before Pharaoh, and Moses said this about himself: "Oh Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue" (4:10). It seems Moses had a speech problem of some sort.

Now look what Stephen said about Moses in the book of the Acts in his message to the Sanhedrin: "At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child...Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action" (Acts 7:20, 22). Moses said he was not eloquent and that he was slow of speech, meanwhile Stephen said he was powerful in speech. Which one is it? I'd like to suggest that the way we see ourselves is not the way God sees us! The first verse is Moses' thoughts about himself, and the second gives us God's thoughts about Moses. We need to have a revelation God's view of us is much better than our view of ourselves.

If God's view of me is different than my view of myself, then the one I listen to will ultimately be the one that defines me. Let me explain. There is nothing more empowering than seeing ourselves the way God sees us. Conversely, there is nothing worse than believing lies about ourselves. Have you ever seen a physically unattractive person who is confident and believes in himself/herself? When you look at them, you don't see an unattractive person. You see inner beauty coming out, and something about them makes them appear beautiful to you. Peter explains this concept when he said that a woman's beauty "should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight" (1 Peter 3:4).

In the same way, have you ever seen someone who is attractive by worldly standards actually appear unattractive because of shame? What we think about ourselves matters...a lot. I often share with my students that they are beautiful if they believe they are beautiful. If they don't believe it, then they are not. The Bible puts it like this, "As a man thinks in his heart, so he is" (Proverbs 23:7). This may sound harsh but it is not meant to be. It is meant to help us understand the power of truth and the debilitating effects of lies.

If the enemy were to speak the truth to us, we would be amazed at God's goodness and how we fit into His glorious plan. The only way the devil can hijack our life is through deception, and through our agreeing with his lies. This is why he is called the father of lies. My native language is English. The Bible tells us that the devil's native language is deception (John 8:44). Whenever he speaks, he does so with the intent of deceiving God's people.

I was recently at a game farm in South Africa, and the ranger told me some things about lions that reminded me of the deceiver. The enemy is actually compared to a lion in Scripture: "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). Our ranger explained that everything about lions is set up to intimidate their prey. For example, their roar is meant to reverberate through the body of its prey, and their mane is intentionally imposing.

The ranger then said something that shocked me. Ninety-nine percent of the time that lions charge their prey, it is a mock charge. Lions actually do not want to fight. They want to scare their pray into running, and then they'll attack. If the lions have to fight, they could get hurt and die. He said they should never be able to kill as much of the prey as they do, but when a buffalo or deer or giraffe runs, the lion can take it down. If the animal stood its ground, the lion would not attack because it could lose the fight. The lion's features are meant to instill fear. Once the animal is afraid and runs, it becomes vulnerable.

This is such a profound spiritual metaphor. The enemy would not be able to do any damage to us if we stood our ground. We do so by standing on the truth of the word God says about us. It is no wonder that some of the most powerful verses on spiritual warfare emphasize "standing firm" over and over again. Notice how Paul puts it in Ephesians:

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes...Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist... (Ephesians 6:11, 13-14)

Standing firm in our identity in Christ, and in what He is saying, is the single most powerful act of warfare that we can do. Some have emphasized fighting the devil without this critical understanding. Truth is all we need to operate victoriously over the lies of the enemy. If the buffalo realizes what it is and its size in relation to the lion, then it will win the fight. However, if it somehow becomes intimidated by the lion, it is in trouble.

There is a famous YouTube video of a baby buffalo that was taken by lions near a body of water. This happened in Kruger, which is close to where I lived in South Africa for twelve years. After the lions got the youngster, something incredible happened. A crocodile grabbed hold of the rear end of the buffalo baby. The lions had to wrestle the baby away from the croc. All the while the buffalo herd looked on and got closer and closer to the lions. Ultimately, one brave buffalo emerged from the herd and charged one of the lions. The lion was no match and had to retreat. This moment emboldened the rest of the herd, and another buffalo rushed the lions and threw one into the air. Remarkably, after the herd stood up to the lions, the baby walks away from the clutches of the lions. The buffalos always had the ability to take on the lions, but it took one to actually make a stand to save the baby. Too often we stand by and watch the enemy devour when we actually have what it takes to gain a victory in that situation.

The majority of the counseling I do ends up dealing with lies people have believed about themselves. As soon as they are able to see and accept the truth, they are set free in a tangible way. There are so many ways we view ourselves that are not from God. When we agree with the deception of the enemy, we are left in bondage, which is designed to keep us from fulfilling our destiny. Remember that your destiny is to destroy the devil's works. He does not like that very much so he'll say whatever is necessary to keep you from living out that high calling.

I once heard a story about a missionary who served on an island. He came across an incredibly beautiful woman. He had never seen anyone as beautiful as she was, and he asked the locals about her. They told him that when she was young she wasn't very attractive. In fact, she was joked about as a girl. In that culture, men would pay a price for women when they got married. The price was paid in cattle and was based on the value the suitor placed on his bride. When it came time to consider marriage, her father did not have much hope that he would be offered much for her. He felt he would probably get two cattle. The average was four or five, and if the girl was royal or had other uniquely valued traits, her family would be offered seven or eight cows.

When it came time to negotiate the bride price with her suitor, her father started well above his goal of two cows in order to create bargaining room. He told the woman's suitor that he would settle for nothing less than four cows. The man was shocked and said he could never agree to such a price. The girl's father expected such a response and was getting ready to lower the amount.

The suitor made a counter offer, and said he could pay nothing less than ten cows. Such an amount had never been given for any girl, and the woman's father could not believe his ears. He was shocked and asked the man how could he possibly offer so much for such a plain girl. The man's reply was telling. He said that she was not plain to him. If he offered ten cows then she'd know how precious she was to him; if he offered less, it would only reinforce the lie that been believed about her value. That became a defining moment in terms of how the woman saw herself, and she grew into the most beautiful woman on the island. She was, after all, worth an unbelievable price.

Likewise, we have been purchased with a price. This woman's "price" was ten cows. Ours was the very life of Jesus. God gave everything for us. When we understand this, we will grow into our true identity, as being priceless in His sight. How we see ourselves matters...a lot.

Judge a Tree By Its Fruit

There is a question that helps us understand whether we are hearing truth or lies. We need to ask how something makes us feel. If a statement brings depression, then it is not from God. We are cautioned to judge a tree by its fruit. A good tree will produce good fruit and a bad tree will produce bad fruit. Similarly, truth from God will produce hope and joy in our hearts, while deception will put us in some form of bondage.

In the same chapter that tells us that the devil's language is deception, Jesus says "you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free...So if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:32, 36). We have to understand that if the truth sets us free, then deception imprisons us. Where we feel imprisoned and disempowered, we can know we've believed a lie. The fruit of deception is apparent.

Once we recognize the bad fruit, we need to backtrack and find the root of the tree that produced that fruit. For example, let's say I start to have fear at night, and I don't like dark places. As a result, I don't go out alone after dark and I keep a light on in my room. If this is happening, it reveals that I am no longer free. Fear has imprisoned me and limited my freedom. Something has caused this imprisonment. Somewhere I have been deceived.

Once I realize this is not from God, I need to find out how this came to pass. As I look back, there will likely be a definitive moment where I believed a lie. In this example, let's say I was watching a zombie movie and I became afraid of zombies roaming around at night. Clearly, this is a deception. Everyone knows that zombies aren't real (well, almost everyone). Yet, something in me began to engage in the possibility that they could be. What if they really are?Believing in the possibility is enough of a seed to produce a tree that will bear bad fruit. Furthermore, this completely contradicts the truth of God. God promises us that He has not given us a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7), and He gives us promises like Psalm 23:4:"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me." Almost everyone knows this verse, and almost everyone knows zombies aren't real, but the truth we choose to allow in our heart is the one that will manifest in our lives. We can tell which one we really believe by the fruit that appears. I can say I believe the Lord is my shepherd all I want, but if I'm living in fear, the fruit of my life suggests otherwise.

We can tell what we truly believe about ourselves by the fruit we see. If I feel good about myself, then my belief is rooted in God's truth. If I feel depressed and worthless, then it is not. Anything not rooted in God is a deception of some nature. Recognizing the deception and dealing with it will empower us to see ourselves as God sees us. In the next chapter, I want to address two of the most terrible deceptions the enemy has used to undermine the unconditional love and acceptance of God: guilt and shame.
Discussion Questions

  1. What lies have you believed about yourself or about God? Consider the bad fruit in your life (fear, depression, rejection, anger, hurt, etc.) and ask yourself what deceptions you have agreed with that could have produced this fruit. Try to make a list of deceptions that you have agreed with. Ask God in prayer to help you with this.
  2. After identifying those lies, ask the Lord to show you the relevant truth that will shine light into that area. Write it down. Ask God to give you a verse from His Word that affirms that truth, and write it down as well.
  3. Meditating on these truths in the future will be a key to walking in your identity and in God's freedom. Consider writing them out and placing them somewhere that you can see them on a regular basis. Also consider declaring them daily until they become cemented in your heart.

Chapter 5

Guilt and Shame

Shame Is Not from God

There was a time where there was no shame. Just try to imagine a sinless environment where no one was ever ashamed...of anything. In the beginning, when things were perfect, the world was like this. Adam and Eve were so free and pure that they "were both naked, and they felt no shame" (Genesis 2:25). Having no shame in a sin-free environment seems doable, but notice that Adam and Eve were not ashamed of their bodies in any way. They knew fully who they were. They knew how God saw them. The result of understanding their identity was that they were naked without shame.

What caused them to feel shame? They made an agreement with the devil and sin entered the world. As soon as they allowed the devil's influence in their environment, they noticed their nakedness and they were ashamed. Shame came into their lives because of the enemy's influence, and, as a result, they covered themselves with fig leaves.

Adam and Eve's personal attempts to cover themselves did not manage to eliminate their shame. They still hid from God. Many of us feel the need to hide from God. We wrongly assume that the feelings of shame we have are because we "have let God down." We feel unworthy of His presence because of what we've done. Of course, this is a deception of the highest order. Shame never came from God. It came from our enemy, whose goal it is to keep us away from God and His life-giving truth. When we feel unworthy of God, it is because we are agreeing with the lie of the enemy.

God was prepared to cover Adam and Eve's nakedness. He never intended for Adam and Eve to walk in shame, so He did something about it. He "made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them" (Genesis 3:21). God was not satisfied with Adam and Eve's attempts to cover themselves. Often we try to fix our mistakes, and we feel that once we can make things right we can be used by God again. We can approach Him again. This is the deception that tends to follow shame. Our efforts cannot fix things, as much as we try.

It is very important that we consider where these "garments of skin" came from. They were made from skin, not of wool or cloth. This means they came from an animal. God sacrificed an animal to cover Adam and Eve. Up until that point, nothing had died because sin is what brought death into the world. The very first animal that died did so as a sacrifice to cover Adam and Eve's nakedness. This is profound on so many levels.

God had a plan to cover Adam and Eve's shame. His plan involved an innocent animal dying for them to be covered. The first blood that was shed on earth was done so to cover and eliminate Adam's and Eve's shame. Does this sound familiar? Already God was setting the stage for the sacrifice Jesus would make. Jesus was called the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Jesus was God's perfect sacrifice. We see in the New Testament that by sacrificing Himself, Jesus would make available "garments of righteousness" for us (Galatians 3:27 & 2 Corinthians 5:21). These garments, like those given to Adam and Eve, are meant to cover and eliminate sinful nature. Because of Jesus' sacrifice, God no longer sees our sin. He sees Jesus' righteousness.

Too many people avoid God and hide from Him until they feel they are good enough or worthy again. This deception of the devil is particularly powerful because we'll never get there. Luckily, we don't have to. It was never about what we could do; instead it was always about what God would do. Jesus' finished work on the cross was the only "work" required. Because of what God did, we can approach Him as we are and enjoy His fellowship. We can live without shame. God does not want us to be ashamed. That's why He sent Jesus.

"Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance" (Isaiah 61:7).

In his book Culture of Honor, Danny Silk explains the damaging effects of shame: "Now, shame isn't just a feeling; it is a spirit. It is a spirit that attacks the identity of individuals. This spirit lies to people and leads them to believe that their poor behavior is really from who they are: 'You didn't fail; you are a failure. You didn't make a mistake; you are a mistake!'".Danny continues to point out the importance of knowing our identity:

The greatness that resides at the core of every believer must come forth if we are to truly represent our Father in Heaven. Putting on the cloak of shame and guilt is not only unbecoming for us as His sons and daughters; it is a trap of powerlessness. Reaching in and grabbing our people by their true identities is an act of love that will live on far longer than the sting of failure and consequences. People can see and think when their identity is clear of fear and shame.

Guilt is Also Not From God

In the same way that shame entered the world through sin, guilt did as well. Guilt and condemnation are not from God. Paul explains in his letter to the Romans: "There is no condemnation for those who are in Jesus" (8:1). Condemnation leaves me feeling guilty. On the other hand, conviction empowers me to overcome sin. We need to learn to recognize the difference between the two. One comes from God, and one comes from the devil.

Many Christians feel they need feelings of guilt in order to repent. They reason that guilt is their conscience getting them to turn back to God. Even though these feelings don't produce sustained righteousness, this teaching has been ingrained in our thoughts and actions. In turn, we use guilt to "prick the consciences" of children, and the cycle continues.

We wrongly teach people that if we have sinned, we need to repent and then God will accept them again. The danger with this line of teaching is that God's love becomes contingent on human righteousness, and there is no one who is righteous in themselves. It is not repentance that leads me to the love of God but the other way around. The goodness of God leads me to repentance (Romans 2:4). Instead of teaching people about their guilt, we need to lead people into an encounter with God. His love will cause them to want to change! Guilt makes people feel like they have to change to keep God happy, while conviction comes from an encounter with God and makes people want to change.

The result of this incorrect approach has been an incorrect view of God. If we have to be honest, many of us see God as a demanding old man we have to keep happy by what we do. This picture is not God's nature at all. In God's presence is the fullness of joy (Psalms 16:11), and joy is one of the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22). It stands to reason that God wants me to operate in joy. If the joy of the Lord is my strength (Nehemiah 8:10), then not experiencing that joy makes me weak. Guilt birthed in religiosity robs us of our joy, which is the problem Paul was confronting with the church of Galatia when he asks them, "What has happened to all your joy?" (Galatians 4:15)

The reason this message has become so rare in the church is that it requires an encounter with God. Because so few people can actually offer an encounter with the goodness of God, they fall back on rules, which leave people feeling guilty. Guilt cannot produce godliness. If it could, then we would not need Jesus.

There is such a thing as godly sorrow that brings repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10). This sounds a lot like feeling guilty, but Paul distinguishes between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. Godly sorrow leaves no regret, while worldly sorrow brings death. This is the difference between feeling convicted and feeling condemned. Godly sorrow brings with it the ability to overcome the situation and as a result it produces fruit in our lives (2 Corinthians 7:11).

If you'll recall, it was Jesus' kindness that caused Zacchaeus to repent (Luke 19:1-10). Jesus was walking through Jericho, and Zacchaeus wanted to get a closer look. Since Zacchaeus was short, he climbed a tree. Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector, which was code for "despised thief" in biblical terms. Tax collectors became wealthy by overcharging the people on their taxes. Now Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector, and he was a wealthy man. This pretty much made him a huge scum bag who stole from everyone. When Jesus notices him in the tree, He says, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately, I must stay at your house today" (Luke 19:5).

This caused quite a stir among the people who knew how bad of a man Zacchaeus was. Certainly, Jesus knew this too. Yet, instead of pointing out his guilt in order for him to repent, Jesus shows Zacchaeus kindness and honor. His immediate response is public repentance in the form of a promise to give half of his possessions to the poor, and to pay back four times what he had stolen. My guess is that if Jesus would have publically rebuked Zacchaeus, he would have felt ashamed and guilty, and probably promised Jesus to try harder. How often do we promise to try harder because of guilt, only to end up in the same mess later?

The same pattern can be seen with the woman at the well (John 4:1-42). She was guilty of living with a man, and had five previous marriages. Relationships clearly weren't her thing. The fact she was alone at the well is further proof that she not was the most popular woman in town. Knowing all of this, Jesus did not hold her sin over her head and ask for her confession. He showed her kindness and love, and she ended up leading others to Jesus.

I find it amazing that when Jesus was confronted with the woman caught in adultery, He actively tried to get her set free. He did not agree with her accusers, even though she was guilty as charged. There was a group of men who wanted to punish her according the law. They were using the Bible to correctly judge her guilt. After all the men left, Jesus had the following dialogue with this woman (John 8:10-11):

"Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

"No one, sir," she said.

"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

It is remarkable that Jesus was fully aware of her sin, but first chose to love her and show her kindness before challenging her lifestyle.

When Jesus came to earth, He came because of His love for us. John 3:16 is one of the most well-known scriptures, but its meaning has not been truly received by God's people. It says that the reason Jesus came was because of God's love. God is love, and His love for us is the motivation for everything we see today. God created out of love, he sent Jesus out of love. Love is His objective. We have to know that love is God's heart toward us, and nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing means nothing. Paul makes sure we understand that God's love is ours by giving us a list of several things that cannot keep us out his love (Romans 8:38-39). The list includes things like demons, death, powers and anything in all of creation. If we feel separated from God's love, it is because we have believed something that is not true.

In the very next verse John writes, "For God did not send his Son to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned but whoever does not believe stands condemned already" (John 3:17-18). Jesus came on a love mission. He did not come to leave us feeling condemned and guilty for sin. We are only condemned if we fail to accept Jesus, not if we sin.

Too often we are sold an image of an angry God and guilt tactics are used to make us behave. Yet, the Scriptures present a different idea. Even in the Old Testament, God says, "To me this is like the days of Noah when I swore that the waters of Noah would never cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again. Though the mountains be shaken and the hills removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed says the Lord, who has compassion on you" (Isaiah 54:9-10). God equates His promise of not being angry at us with His promise not to flood the earth. This is powerful. I wonder how much we actually believe this. Each of us need to know that God has compassion on us and that His love is unfailing and that He is as serious about this revelation as He is about is commitment not to flood the earth again.

I'm not suggesting we don't deal with sin. I'm just saying that God doesn't need us to feel guilty in order to free us from the bondage of sin. Far too often the approach of believers has been to attack sin and not to give people an encounter with God. The world is not looking for more rules. They are looking for a reality of the love of God that will transform their hearts and leave them changed from the inside out. We need to let go of guilt and shame and embrace the loving kindness of God that will empower us to overcome sin.

* * *

 Danny Silk, Culture of Honor (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image, 2009), 172.

 Silk, 173.
Discussion Questions

  1. Think about anything in your life that you are ashamed of or feel guilty about. Have these things ever caused you to distance yourself from God? Have they ever caused you to want to hide from God or from others? If so, repent for allowing that to happen and thank God for removing your guilt and shame through Jesus.
  2. Next, embrace God's love. Pray for God to encounter you where you are. Jesus would go out of His way to meet people and show them His love, and He'll do the same for you. Allow God to meet you where you are (warts and all). 
  3. As God's love and kindness ministers to you in your life write down what happens. This is truth that will set you free.

Chapter 6

How God Sees Us

We know that God does not want us to operate in guilt and shame because He sees us as righteousness. In fact, we are the righteousness of Christ. As soon as we believe in Jesus, we become a new creation in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17).

These are all incredible realities that are easier said than believed. Still they are true. That we find it so hard to believe God sees us as perfect points to our degree of deception, not to God's inability to see us for who we really are. Guilt and shame work to undermine the incredible truth of how God sees us.

Ephesians 1:4, which we've already looked at, actually says that God saw us as perfect before He created the world. Did you get that? He sees perfection when He looks at us. The problem with this theologically is that I'm not perfect. In fact, none of us are. The same Bible that says God sees me as perfect also says "There is no one righteous, not even one" and "ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:10,23). This is no small contradiction.

Perhaps the verse that best presents this paradox is Hebrews 10:14 which says, "by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy." This should give us pause. On the one hand, we have been made perfect forever, while on the other hand we are being made holy in the present. The implication is that I am both unholy and perfect all at the same time. How does this work?

When Jesus died He became sin so that we might become righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21). The Bible speaks about us being clothed with His righteousness. "Isaiah puts it like this: 'For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness'" (61:10). When we receive Jesus, we are all of a sudden wearing the righteousness of Christ: "for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ" (Galatians 3:27). There is nothing we can do to earn it, because we are not righteous."

When God looks at us, He doesn't see us anymore. He sees the garment of righteousness that Jesus provided for us. In the same way God covered Adam and Eve's shame through a sacrifice, God covers our guilt with the garment of Jesus' righteousness. "It is because we are clothed with Jesus that God can say He sees us as his bride without spot, wrinkle or blemish (Ephesians 5:27)" When we are walking around feeling guilty and ashamed, we are essentially saying the cross was not enough for us.

I am wearing this beautiful garment of righteousness, but underneath it is a fleshly person who is still being made perfect. Luckily, God is not looking past the righteousness of Jesus when He sees us. That is why we are a work in progress but God still sees us being perfect in Him. There is only one who is trying to point out my measure of sin, and he is called the accuser of the brothers (Revelation 12:10). When we don't understand that we are the righteousness of Christ we end up agreeing with the enemy, who accuses us day and night.

While God sees us this way, it is important to establish that our lives should reflect more and more of Him. We should grow. This is the point James is making in his letter when he says that faith without works is dead. If my faith is genuine, there should be a tangible outworking in my life. There should be a measure of progress. I cannot say I truly believe in Jesus without caring about what He says. This is the same as someone who gets married and makes a vow, only to file for divorce a year later after having multiple affairs. The vow is proven to be empty words by the actions that follow. That person didn't believe what they were saying in their heart when they made their wedding commitment. This is why Paul says that we can be sure of being saved when we confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts (Romans 10:9). Confession means nothing if it is not accompanied with a heartfelt belief. The evidence of a true belief in Jesus will be seen in my life in some way.

It is a fact that the day I die, I will be in some measure of sin. I cannot fully attain to a standard of righteousness in this life. Nevertheless, God sees me as perfect in His sight. This is what makes the gospel good news!

Saints Not Sinners

I grew up being taught that "saints" were dead people. I was told there were only a handful of saints and they were really special. They had done incredible things for God. The implication in what I was taught was that sainthood was nearly an unattainable goal, and it was impossible to achieve while we were still alive.

This deception has undermined many believers' identity. An example of how this has affected our thinking about ourselves is the phrase "I'm just a sinner saved by grace." What exactly does that mean? It sounds like I'm just bound to sin and I'm pretty terrible, but luckily God has given me grace and I'll make it. The problem with much of the church today is that many see themselves as sinners and not saints. When we measure ourselves by our shortcomings, we undermine the identity Jesus provided for us on the cross when he traded our sin for his righteousness. No one who believes is "just a sinner." God sees us differently.

When saints are mentioned in the Bible, they are actually believers who are still alive. Paul writes a number of letters to the "saints" of a given city or area. The second letter to the Corinthians is addressed "to the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints in Achaia"(2 Corinthians 1:1). Corinth was a city in the Achaia region, and Paul writes specifically to the church of Corinth and to any other believers, or saints, in the area.

Paul defines who the saints are in his introduction to the Ephesians when he writes, "To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 1:1). The saints are people who are alive in Ephesus and who are the faithful in Christ Jesus. To the church at Philippi, Paul writes: "To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons" (Philippians 1:1). The letter to the Romans is written to those "called to be saints" (Romans 1:7). In Acts, Paul persecutes the saints (9:13) and Peter visits the saints, or believers, in Lydda (Acts 9:32). These are just a few of the many references to the saints in Christ who were still living.

The saints Paul was writing to were not perfect examples of Christianity. In fact, Paul wrote many of his letters in order to address issues the people were having. He wrote letters to the saints, and then went on to discuss some pretty terrible problems. The conclusion is that our sin does not disqualify us from being saints.

When we consider Scripture, it becomes clear that sainthood is not exclusive. If anything, the use of the word is incredibly inclusive. Our identity in God is at stake here. When sainthood becomes inclusive, people are empowered by their identity before God. They are made aware of how God sees them.

The Power of Truth

The more that truth becomes ingrained in us, the harder it is for deception to gain a foothold. If someone came up to me and said I was not a human but a hairy gorilla, their statement would mean nothing to me because I know with every part of me that I am a human. If someone were to say I was a female, I would not suddenly have an identity crisis. I know the truth. The sad irony is that there are those who have been deceived even in these fundamental truths about who we are. The fact that there are people who think they are the same as animals, and people who are unclear of their sexual orientation illustrates the devil's agenda in destroying identity.

When there is doubt, we more easily let go of truth and pick up deception. This is why the enemy first planted a seed of doubt in Eve's mind with his opening line: "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden.'" (Genesis 3:1). Of course the answer is no. God did not say that. They were allowed to eat from all the trees but one. The reason the question was asked, though, was to create doubt. We will not doubt if we meditate on truth.

It gets more complicated than this. The devil then mixes a great deal of "truth" in order to create a deception. For example, he says to Eve, "you will be like God knowing good and evil." The truth is that she was already like God. The enemy was trying to get her to work for an identity that was already hers. Furthermore, she was already aware of good but not evil. Eating the fruit would make her aware of good and evil. So the devil was using truth in order to deceive. He even used the Bible to try and deceive Jesus. It is subtle deceptions such as this that create doubt to undermine our identity in Christ.

We need to know the truth. If Eve would have focused on the truth that she had thousands of trees at her disposal and that she was created in God's image, I don't think that deception would have gained a foothold, and a foothold is all the enemy needs. The more we meditate on the fact that God sees us as saints, the less we'll believe the devil's accusation that we are pathetic sinners. Yes, we are all in some measure of sin, but that does not define us. Jesus' sacrifice does. This revelation must become a foundation that we stand on. When it does, the accuser's voice will become distant and dim.

You are a saint of the Most High God, and He sees you as perfect! May you enjoy the fruit of this truth.

* * *

 Excerpt taken from He Used A Stone by Andrew Mullek

 Excerpt taken from He Used A Stone by Andrew Mullek
Discussion Questions

  1. Do you see yourself as a saint? Why is it important that God's Word establishes us as saints?
  2. Read the following verse and explain in your own words what this means to you, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Chapter 7

Sons and Daughters

While I was working in South Africa, I typically travelled home from South Africa in December, but this time I came home in the spring for my cousin Bill's wedding. Bill is like a brother to me and it was such a blessing to be able to be a part of that important event in his life. As this trip happened during May, I joined my dad for a fishing trip. When I was young, we did this all the time. It had been a while since we had gone fishing because my visits always happened over the Christmas holidays. December is hunting season, and my dad is an avid hunter, so our fishing trips had ceased. Technically, dad is more of a game viewer as he can go for years, if not decades, without pulling the trigger. Still, this fishing trip was quite a treat.

Upon arriving at the fishing spot, I resumed my usual duty of securing the boat, while my dad navigated the launch. Standing there with the rope in my hand, I was blown away by the thought that I was about to get into a boat. There is very little water in South Africa, so fishing is an uncommon hobby. As a result, boats are a rare luxury. I had even forgotten that our family had boats, and that fishing was something I loved to do. But here I was with every right to use this boat any time I wanted because it was my dad's boat. In that moment, the Lord spoke to my heart and told me, "I'm going to show you what it means to be a son in the father's house."

This was a great word, but over the next two weeks, I forgot about that encounter. As my time in the States drew to a close, I was questioning God about why I had come. The trip was the most mundane I had made, until the last two days when my dad blew me away.

First, he told me that he wanted to help me buy a car. To say this was unexpected is an understatement. I never thought my dad would do such a thing. When I explained how much more expensive cars were in South Africa, he said he would pay whatever it took to buy a good car. He ended up paying more for my car than he would ever pay in the U.S.

Then on the next and last full day of my visit, my dad sat me down that morning and said he wanted to discuss his estate planning with me. As the oldest child, he wanted to hear my thoughts. He was thinking of transitioning some of his wealth across to the children early. I had never thought about my inheritance before. Obviously, I marveled at his line of thinking.

Finally, that evening he invited me to fly with him in his powered parachute. I hesitantly agreed. As we lifted off over his farm and I beheld my last sunset for the trip, the Lord spoke clearly to my heart. It was a sovereign moment. He said to me, "I TOLD YOU, I would show you what it means to be a son in the Father's house." This was almost too much for me, and even now as I recount the story I am close to tears. I had been enjoying my father's possessions, without fully comprehending that what was his was mine.

Don't we do the same thing with God? We fail to truly live as sons and daughters in the Father's house. We so seldom access heaven's resources, and when they do come our way, we feel unworthy. Yet, God's word is clear that what's His is also ours. God was using my dad to illustrate the Kingdom principal that I have access to my Father's things.

We Are Not Orphans

Consider the difference between an orphan and a son. An orphan has to deal with feelings of insecurity, rejection, and poverty. A son or daughter does not worry about these things. How many eight-year-old children in loving, stable families worry about whether they will have food when they get home, or whether their parents will be there for them? As sons and daughters of the King of kings, how much more should we be secure in Him and what He has made available to us?

For many people, it is hard to believe we can truly be sons in our heavenly Father's house. If we are honest, we often feel more like spiritual orphans who are waiting for adoption into heaven when we die. As we'll see in later chapters, this too is a terrible deception. Our relationship with God actually begins the day we put our faith in Him. Heaven is only an extension of a relationship that has already begun on earth; hence, Jesus directed us to pray to Our Father that the will of God would be done on earth as it is in heaven.

We are not waiting for adoption into heaven or to become sons of God. Jesus promises us that he would not leave us as orphans, but that He'd send us His Spirit to live in us (John 14:18). Having God's Spirit in us is perhaps the most important part of truly understanding our identity.

The Spirit in us actually testifies that we are sons and daughters:

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received a Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:15-17)

Notice that we have received a Spirit of sonship. That is our current (not future) identity. The only prerequisite here is that we believe. John opens his gospel with the amazing statement that believing in Jesus qualifies us as children of God, "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God" (John 1:12-13). The implications here are truly stunning.

When we are born again, we become a new creation. We also enter a new family – God's family. Just as being a part of an earthly family is irrevocable, so is being part of God's family. It becomes us. Just as children are not kicked out of families when they mess up, so believers are not kicked out when they sin. We often feel like spiritual orphans because of sin, but this is not from God. I would not disown my daughter if she did something wrong. Neither would God do that to us. What good parent would say, "Today you are my child, but tomorrow we'll reassess whether you still are based on your behavior"?

Even Jesus needed to be affirmed as a son of God. Twice in His life, we see God the Father say to Him: "This is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17; 17:5). If God felt it would benefit Jesus to hear this, then I'm pretty sure we need to hear the Lord speak these words to our heart. We need to know we are sons and daughters of God and that He is pleased with us. Go ahead and close your eyes and ask Him to speak to your heart! I bet your heart will hear words of love and affirmation from your father in heaven.

Sonship is such a critical revelation and it is the very first thing the devil attacked when Jesus was tempted. Immediately after Jesus was baptized and God opened heaven and declared that Jesus was His son whom He loved, Jesus was led into the desert to be tempted. Look what happened next: "The tempter came to him and said, 'If you are the Son of God..." (Matthew 4:3). God had just affirmed Jesus' Sonship and after forty days the enemy wanted to challenge what God had declared. The enemy knows that the sons of God are going to trample on his head and walk all over him (Genesis 3:15). His only way to keep from getting trampled is to try and convince us we not sons, not loved, and not pleasing to God. If we believe we are forsaken worms, we are a lot less likely to trample on the serpent's head. The devil knows that if we embrace our identity, it means his demise, so he throws everything he can at us to cause us to question what God says about us.

Children Get to Inherit Something

In the previous Romans passage, Paul concluded that if we are children then we are also heirs. An heir inherits something, and in order to gain an inheritance, someone has to die. This has actually already happened. Jesus' death provided for our inheritance. Colossians confirms this by saying that the Father "has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light" (1:12). Sadly, many Christians approach this truth the same way I approached my dad. I never considered the possibility that my inheritance could be available while my dad was still alive. I only considered my inheritance as a distant future reality. Similarly, we assume our inheritance will only come when we die and go to heaven. That is a deception rooted in a partial truth. It is true that some rewards will only be received in heaven, but it is also true that heaven is available now. Experiencing heaven should become part of our present experience, not just part of a distant future.

When my dad spoke to me about our inheritance, he had a plan to give his children some of his estate while he was still living, while maintaining a life estate on the rest. Likewise, in the spirit, we receive a present inheritance as believers. Paul puts it like this: "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3). This is about as profound as it gets and we'll see later that Paul was talking about a current reality. As children of God, we are blessed in the heavenlies with "every spiritual blessing." Wow.

There are some rewards that await us in heaven, but there is an inheritance in heaven that has already been given. We often fail to understand what Jesus' death made available to us. My intent with this book is to empower us to live in the fullness of what Jesus provided through His Resurrection. As children we get to receive an inheritance provided through Jesus.

God Is a Good Father

Of all the ways God chose to reveal himself to us, the image of Father is perhaps the most significant. God is a good father who is only interested in providing the best for His children. If you are a parent, then you have an insight into the nature of God. Good parents will do whatever it takes to make sure their children are provided for. They will even give up their lives for their children. When we understand the revelation of God as a good father, we will be more likely to live out this identity in a trusting relationship with Him.

Good parents anticipate their children's needs. God knows what we need before we even ask him (Matthew 6:8). In fact, He knows our needs before we are even aware of them. Just imagine that. When something happens and you're facing a problem, God already saw it coming millennia ago. It's not like God is running around heaven fretting because He is surprised by what just happened in your life. He already knew, and He already has an answer.

When we become anxious and worried over issues, we are operating as if we are orphans. If this fruit is manifesting in us, we have believed a lie that God is either not always faithful, or that He is not capable of looking after us. This is why Jesus exhorted us five times in Matthew 6:25-34 not to worry. He says, "So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all those things and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:31-33). The difference between us and pagans is that we have a Father in heaven who looks after us.

If we will seek His kingdom first, He promises to provide all of our needs. Either we believe this or we do not. We can easily test whether we truly live out this part of our identity by how much we worry.

God is committed to caring for us, and He promises this over and over again. In two parallel portions of Scripture, Jesus actually compares God to an earthly parent. In Matthew's gospel Jesus says, "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" (7:11). Again in Luke he says, "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (11:13). God has good things for us, but we tend to forget this just as I had forgotten that my earthly dad had a boat I could use any time. The reason I forgot about my dad's boat was because we had not fished together for such a long time. The more time we spend in God's presence, the more reassurance we'll receive.

Some people struggle to trust God because they have seen something bad happen either to them or someone they know. If they have to be honest, they do not fully accept God as a good Father. This is another terrible deception. We need to understand that things on earth are not as they once were. Pain and suffering are the result of choices that we made. Blaming God for the pain in this world is like me blaming Toyota for a bad car after I drive it into a brick wall. Imagine taking a car that has been badly damaged in an accident back to the dealership and accusing them of making a bad car. They are rightly going to tell me that they made a great car, and I wrecked it. God made a great world, and He loved us enough to let us choose how to live here. The problems we see are not the result of God's negligence, but rather because God loved us enough to give us free will.

Spiritual Runaways

When we doubt God's goodness as a Father, we become spiritual runaways without even knowing it. Runaways leave home in an effort to provide for themselves. They wrongly believe they can look after themselves better than their family can. Their tattered clothes and unkempt appearance reveal otherwise. When we stop trusting God as our parent and provider, and take matters into our own hands, worry always follows. The terrible weight the spiritual runaway carries becomes clearly obvious through the anxiety and fear etched on their faces.

I love the story of the prodigal son who took his inheritance early and ran away from home. He did not believe his dad had his best interest at heart. As we know, it did not take long for the worries of the world to catch up with the son and he began to look the part of a runaway. After a time he came to his senses and realized that he desperately needed the care and wisdom of his loving father, and he decided to return home.

The next part of the story is crucial. We can envision what should happen, can't we? The son returns home with shoulders slumped and face down. We know what the father should do. He should be standing on the porch with arms crossed and a disappointed expression on his face. Surely, an "I told you so" is in order here. This way of handling disappointment seems to be so engrained in us that we expect it from God. And yet, this is not what happened! The father broke all social protocol and RAN to his son and embraced him. In that moment, he loved his son extravagantly by throwing his arms around him and kissing him (Luke 14:11-24). I would like to suggest that God sees the very moment you will return to Him, and it is His heart to embrace you in love and acceptance.

In the story, the father clothed the prodigal son with his best robe. This speaks of royal identity. He then put a ring on his son's finger, which speaks of authority. He re-established this young man as a member of his family by giving him clothes that represent the father. I get the impression that the father intended to parade his son in front of everyone, as a son who had been fully accepted! Our identity matters to God and he wants us to be fully aware of His acceptance and love and that we are His children.

Any time we feel that God is looking at us with a stern grimace and folded arms, it actually distances us from the truth of His acceptance and love. I'm sure it was this very thought that kept the prodigal son away from home for so long. He expected his dad to be angry. If you've become a spiritual runaway and you know that you trusted yourself more than God, then repent and come to your Father. He will be waiting with a smile on His face and wide open arms.

No matter what has happened in our lives, we are children of a loving God, and we are well looked after by one who anticipates ALL of our needs. Let's get a revelation of what it means to be a son or a daughter in the Father's house.
Discussion Questions

  1. Consider the story about being a son in the father's house. Do you see yourself more as a child of God or an orphan waiting for adoption into heaven?
  2. Let's look again at the following quote: "When we doubt God's goodness as a Father, we become spiritual runaways without even knowing it. Runaways leave home in an effort to provide for themselves. They wrongly believe they can look after themselves better than their family can." Can you identify areas where you trusted yourself more than you trusted God in your life. This may have happened in handling your finances, in pursuing relationships, in matters of health or of provision. If so, ask God for grace to trust Him in these areas, and repent for trusting yourself!

Chapter 8

A Royal Priesthood

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God..." (1 Peter 2:9).

When it comes to the topic of our identity, few verses are as defining as this verse in 1 Peter. It is one of the most powerful statements in Scripture about who we are and how God sees us. In this chapter I want to look specifically at the phrase "royal priesthood." When we understand what Peter is saying here, we cannot help but be transformed by this truth.

We Are Royalty

Have you ever been in the presence of royalty, or watched them on television? You'll notice that there is something different about the way they carry themselves. They have a confident belief in themselves, and this is seen in the way they walk, in the way they speak, and in the way they do life in general.

This begs the question: what made them this way? I believe the answer is that from birth someone told these people they are special. They are told they are members of a royal family because of who their parents are. They are born into it. Nothing would ever change the fact that they are princes and princesses, and as a result they are significant. Over and over again, people born into a royal family are reminded of how important they are. Their identity is constantly affirmed, so they come to believe that they are royalty.

We saw earlier in Proverbs: "as a man thinks in his heart, so he is" (23:7). As soon as these people start to believe they are royalty they began to act differently. Everything about them begins to exude a royal presence.

The body of Christ has suffered far too long from an identity crisis. This is because we have not been told who we are. We have not been told that we were born into a royal family. Think about it. We are sons and daughters of the King of all kings. That makes us princes and princesses of the most powerful royal family that ever lived. This is an indelible part of our identity, because we are born into it. Just as Prince Charles is a prince because of who his parents are, so we are royalty because of who our Father is. This needs to sink into our heart.

In the fictional movie The Princess Diaries, the queen of Genovia comes to tell a normal girl, Mia Thermopolis, that she is actually royalty. How many of us long to have someone tell us that we are significant and that we have a purpose? The good news of this book is that this is God's message to us!

We have a helper to train us in the ways of royalty. In John 14:26, Jesus tells us that He has left us a helper, the Holy Spirit, who will "teach us all things." In the movie, the queen leaves behind a helper to train Mia for her position. This is exactly what Jesus did. He told us who we were and then left behind the Holy Spirit as a helper to teach us. It is profound that this verse in John (as well as 1 John 2:27) says that the Holy Spirit will teach us ALL things. This should challenge our traditional understanding of learning about the ways of God's kingdom. We lean too heavily on other people when we have been given a personal helper who will guide us and grow us in our royal position. Don't get me wrong, learning from others is essential, but that learning must ultimately be filtered by the work of the Holy Spirit. Have you ever been in church and five minutes out of a thirty-minute sermon stuck and stirred in your heart? That was probably your helper highlighting what you needed at the time. I'll spend more time discussing the importance of the Spirit in other chapters. For now it is essential that we realize we cannot walk in our identity without learning to cultivate a relationship with the Holy Spirit.

What Is Our Kingdom?

Two things make people royalty. As mentioned, the first is that they are told they are royal from birth and they believe it. The second is that the people around them recognize their royal authority and nature. In other words, they have a kingdom. It does no good to tell someone they are a prince or princess of an area when they are not. They may believe it for a while, and they may act the part, but as soon as they try and publically operate in that identity they will be laughed at. Royalty ultimately requires recognition from others.

We may feel like there are those who don't recognize our royal identity. If this discourages us, it is because we don't understand the kingdom. A king is such because of the kingdom he has jurisdiction over. He loses his authority when he enters a different kingdom. For example, the king of Swaziland cannot tell the queen of England what to do and vice versa. We need to realize that God's kingdom is not measured by what we see around us. This is the point Jesus made to Pilate when he told him, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest from the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another world" (John 18:36).

Even if our royal identity is not recognized by the people around us, we need to know that there is a kingdom that does acknowledge it: the kingdom of heaven. The subjects of heaven Jesus was referring to are the angels. If we operate in our royal identity, then the angels and demons will respond to us accordingly. Hebrews includes a very interesting verse about the nature of angels. It says that all angels are "ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation" (1:14). We are those who will inherit salvation, and all angels are sent to serve us. This sounds a lot like a kingdom where we operate as royalty. I don't mention this to encourage arrogance or the bossing around of angels, but rather to awaken us to an identity that is at the core of who we are.

When the seven sons of Sceva tried to drive out an evil spirit without being born again into the kingdom of God, the demon answered them in a revealing manner: "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you. Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding" (Acts 19:15-16). This portion of Scripture emphasizes the importance of our authority being recognized in the kingdom of God. Clearly, Paul had jurisdiction over this demon because of his royal position, but the sons of Sceva did not. This should not intimidate us. Rather, it should encourage us as to what we have jurisdiction over as royal sons and daughters of the King of heaven.

One of the things that distinguish kings is their crown. Crowns serve as a symbol of royalty, and there are several references of crowns being bestowed on the saints. David puts this beautifully when he said, "what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim in the paths of the seas" (Psalm 8:4-8). We have been crowned with glory and honor and God has established us as rulers with everything under our feet.

God's kingdom is a work in progress that is continually expanding. The writer of Hebrews quotes this Psalm and qualifies the statement that everything is under our feet saying, "In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him" (Hebrews 2:8) In other words, the kingdom of God is not yet finished advancing.

Our final posture should not be one of pride. Like the elders in the book of Revelation, our crowns are there to lay at the feet of the Lord, and our purpose is to extend His Kingdom here on earth, not our own. I'm convinced that nothing derails God's people faster than trying to pursue their own personal kingdom. Promoting ourselves may bring recognition on earth, but we will not be recognized by heaven. We cannot afford to function in a way that exalts ourselves. As we operate from our identity, and as we do so for His sake, we'll fulfill the prayer Jesus gave us in Matthew 6:10:"your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is heaven."

A Kingdom of Priests

I was once waiting tables in a restaurant, serving a Catholic priest. At the time I was Catholic, though a poor example of one. The priest must have sensed something of God's call on my life. He stopped me at one point and said he believed I was called to be a priest. He was not the first priest to say such a thing to me. I've never forgotten that moment because he did not know me, and because it was uncommon for me to hear a priest speak prophetically like that. I have come to understand over the years that his prophetic declaration was correct. I am a priest. And so are you.

The verse in 1 Peter 2:9 says we are a royal priesthood. Our royal identity is connected to the fact that we are part of a New Testament priesthood of all believers. This is a highly significant concept that emerges in the New Testament. After Jesus died, was resurrected, and sent His Holy Spirit, the understanding of what it means to be a priest changed forever. The implications in this shift are tremendous. To our detriment, many churches are still operating under an Old Testament type priesthood, and believers are not being taught that they are priests. Where this is the case, our God-given identity is undermined.

The role of a priest is to fulfill the work of God on earth. If we fail to understand how the priesthood transitioned from the Levites in the Old Testament to all believers in the New Testament, we'll fail to effectively do God's work. In the Old Testament, the priests served as mediators between man and God, and they performed sacrifices on behalf of the people. Once a year, the high priest was allowed to pass through the veil in the temple. This massive veil separated the Holy of Holies, where God's presence dwelt, from the rest of the temple. The high priest had to wear certain clothes, and he had to be purified in order to enter God's presence (Hebrews 9:7). The very moment Jesus died, this veil was supernaturally split in half (Luke 23:45). This changed everything for believers. The Holy of Holies was no longer off limits. Everyone now had the same access to God's presence that the high priest had in the Old Testament. What was once restricted was now made available to all. A shift took place that would impact every believer for the rest of time.

What's more, the temple that contained God's presence also changed. Because of the Holy Spirit being given to God's people, we become the temple that contains the presence of God (1 Corinthians 3:16). These changes position believers to do the work of God and to have access to His presence. In that way, the restrictive nature of the Old Testament priesthood gives way to a New Testament dispensation whereby all believers are seen as priests before the Lord.

In the book of Revelation, John confirms Peter's sentiment by saying, "To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father – to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen." (1:5-6). According to the Word of God, Jesus Christ has made us, his followers, both a kingdom and a priesthood.

Notice in both of the verses that define the New Testament priesthood there is a reference to royalty. Peter calls us a royal priesthood and John says that Jesus has made us a kingdom. As we've seen, we are royalty because we are part of God's kingdom. I believe that it was always God's intention to establish His kingdom here on earth through His priests. The very first time God uses the word kingdom to refer to his domain on earth is in Exodus 19:6, where God commands Moses to tell the Israelites: "You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." It is clear that God's kingdom is irrevocably linked to His priests. If we are going to fulfill Jesus' prayer, "your will be done, your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven," we are going to need to operate from our priestly identity.

God's original intent in Exodus 19:6 was for every person to be part of the holy nation and a kingdom of priests, but the Israelites refused to operate in their full identity. They chose instead to shy away from the presence of God when He visited them, and they ultimately chose to have a king rule over them instead of assuming their royal identity in the Lord. They missed the heart of God, so an alternative priesthood was established instead. We need to see that even in the Old Testament God did not intend to have a king or an exclusive priesthood. He intended to have a kingdom of priests, but the people never embraced their identity. Let's not make the same mistake.

What Does It Mean To Be a Royal Priest?

In the Old Testament, the priests had special access to the temple. They offered sacrifices on the behalf of others. As intermediaries, they represented God to the people and the people to God. This is no longer necessary for us to do, because Jesus fulfilled that role by becoming our High Priest, as we read about in Hebrews. The result is that there is now only one mediator between God and man and that is Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:5). Because of Jesus we are now all priests who have access to God, and thus, we are all equally tasked with the work of the ministry.

This means that I do not need to go to a seminary to do the work of the priest. It also means that I do not need to lead a church to be in ministry. We are all now part of the ministry, which is simply building God's kingdom. This happens through many ways such as sharing God's heart with others, praying for the sick, delivering people from bondage, loving others, discipling people, baptizing new believers, laying hands on people, etc. Any model that creates a hierarchy whereby we need anything other than the presence of God in our lives to do these things is undermining our priestly identity. We should all be mentored and discipled in a way that empowers us to perform these priestly duties.

There has been a tragic differentiation made between ministry and the marketplace. This was never God's intention. Paul did not stop preaching while he built tents, nor did he stop building tents while he was preaching. When we go to work in the marketplace, we go as priests and God will use us as such. This means you may get the chance to encourage someone at work, or to pray with them or share a Scripture with them. It means you may get an opportunity to use your business to advance the kingdom through a community event, or through sowing financially into missions or through hiring people with special needs. Whatever the case, if we are in the marketplace, then that is the location of our ministry. If we are homemakers, then our home is the place of our ministry.

A lot of attention is given to Jesus and his twelve disciples. Have you ever considered where Jesus got the money to buy food, and how he funded his ministry? Where did the money come from that Judas was charged with looking after? At least part of that money came from a group of women who supported these men's ministry. They were using their businesses (or their husband's businesses) to empower Jesus and his disciples (Luke 8:1-3). This is truly significant, and not something we normally stop to consider. I would suggest that in God's eyes, these women played just as important a role in building the kingdom of God as the twelve did. Let us not forget that Mary Magdalene, along with other women, was the first witness to the Resurrection.

During the first time gathering with the church I now lead (for our Wednesday night service), I shared this thought with them. I expressed that I wanted the church to use Wednesday nights as an opportunity to reach out and do the work of the ministry. Some were shocked and one person even gathered the church members in the parking lot saying I was not a real pastor because I expected them to do my job for me! The reason he reacted that way was because he had never been taught that he was a priest. He had only been exposed to a hierarchical structure that said the pastor does all the work of the ministry. According to him, it was my job to go and visit the sick, care for the poor and pray for people. This is simply not the case. Our identity is that we are all priests. Let's begin to do God's work wherever He has placed us. 
Discussion Questions

  1. What comes to mind when you think of a priest?
  2. How does it affect you to know that God calls you a royal priest? What ministry do you think God would have you perform? 
  3. List some ways that God can use you in your place of work.

Chapter 9

The Bride of Christ

The day I got married I was absolutely giddy with excitement. I could not take my eyes off of my bride. This was the moment we had been waiting for ever since God began to knit our hearts together. It was glorious. My bride was perfectly beautiful, and I was locked in! I had dove's eyes. A dove can only focus on one thing, and when Solomon says in Song of Songs that his bride has dove's eyes (1:15), he is referring to her focus on him as the bridegroom.

I like to watch the groom at weddings. When everyone stands and watches the bride enter, I turn my attention to the bridegroom. There is something happening in that moment that will never be repeated. In those few seconds, the groom is receiving his bride in all her beauty. The look in the eyes of groom stirs some of the deepest emotions within me. Most of the time I tear up just looking into his eyes and seeing the expression on his face. The look of the groom is the look Jesus has in his eyes for us. He sees us the same way. If we begin to understand that, it will wreck us for Him!

Throughout Scripture, a bridal paradigm is revealed where God's children are referred to as the bride, and Jesus is the bridegroom. The delight of the bridegroom on his wedding day is meant to be a glimpse into how Jesus sees us, and of God's everlasting covenant of love.

Several times, Jesus calls himself our bridegroom or someone else calls Him this. When John the Baptist is questioned about Jesus' ministry, he answers, "The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less" (John 3:29-30). John is saying that, as the friend of the bridegroom, his role is to get everything ready for the wedding. Once he hears his friend's voice, his job is done...the wedding must take place. When John says that the 'bride belongs to the bridegroom," he is referring to us.

Similarly, when Jesus is challenged with why his disciples don't fast, He says, "Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast" (Luke 5:34-35). Paul picks up on this theme as well, when says, "I am jealous for you with a godly jealously. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him" (2 Corinthians 11:2).

Jesus likens His ministry to a marriage when He criticized His generation for not responding to Him. He says that His generation is like children sitting in a marketplace saying, "We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge and you did not mourn" (Matthew 11:17). In the next verse, Jesus compared John's ministry to a funeral where no one mourned and His own was a wedding where no one danced.

I am sharing these verses with you because it is critical to understand this aspect of how God sees us. God's plan for us is culminating in a wedding. We are not simply poor, pathetic orphans whom God felt sorry for and had to rescue. We're not mangy mutts with a sad look on our face hoping to be taken to a better place. We are much more. We are His "betrothed." From the beginning, we were created in His image, and we were destined for covenant relationship. The closest image we have to understand that relationship is a marriage covenant. God is more passionate for this wedding to take place than even I was on my wedding day. This needs to sink in. The look in my eyes when I beheld my bride gives us just a glimpse into how the lover of our souls feels about us.

A Bride Wears White

For many, this is too much to take in. When we consider our sin, we feel more like pound puppies than a beloved bride. This is what makes Song of Songs so powerful. It is the story of Solomon and his bride. It is also the story of Jesus and us, which makes it the song of ALL songs. Solomon's bride has a revelation. She says this about herself: "Dark am I, yet lovely" (1:4). Even in her dark condition, she knew she was lovely because that is how her lover saw her. As a church, we need to understand that Jesus sees us as His chosen bride in spite of our dark condition.

Jesus tells a story about a king holding a wedding for his son. Very distinguished people (the Jews) were invited but they did not come. From that point everyone got invited (the Gentiles), and the wedding hall was filled with guests. Still one guest got singled out because he was not wearing wedding clothes. The Bible says he was speechless when that happened, and the king threw him out into the darkness where there was "weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 22:1-14).

At first glance, this seems harsh considering that very poor people were ultimately invited. Perhaps this man could not afford wedding garments. When I looked further into the story, I learned what made this man's actions inexcusable. It was customary for the king to provide wedding clothes free of charge. In other words, there was no excuse to refuse the wedding clothes. This refers to Jesus' death and sacrifice, where garments of righteousness were freely provided for us. I wonder if this man thought his own clothes were sufficient. I wonder how many people think their own works are acceptable to God. Let this story be a reminder that no matter how good we are, we need Jesus. He is the ONLY way to the Father.

We may be dark, but we are lovely. We are lovely because God sees us arrayed in wedding garments. We're dressed in white, and we are lovely in His sight.

We Need to Be Ready at Any Time

In the Jewish custom, being engaged or betrothed was the same as being married. This is what made Mary's immaculate conception so offensive to Joseph, and what could have caused her to be killed had God not intervened. When Paul says he has promised us to one husband, he is referring to us being betrothed or engaged to Jesus. Our current posture in Christ is that we are engaged to him in a binding covenant. As with the Jewish people, this holds the same significance as being formally married. Our eternal marriage with the Lamb has already started.

What is amazing is that once a Jewish couple was engaged, the bridegroom would leave his bride to go and prepare a place for her. He would build a home for her under the supervision of his father. Only when his father was satisfied with the home would the son be released to go to his bride. When that happened, a wedding party was formed and the friends of the bridegroom would go with him to get the bride. This could happen at any time. The bride had to be ready night and day for her husband to return. So it is with the return of our bridegroom, Jesus.

Jesus tells us he has gone to prepare a place for us: "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am" (John 14:2-3). This means we are betrothed to him now, and He's gone to get our heavenly dwelling ready. When it is time, the Father will send His son. Jesus reveals that only the Father knows the hour when heaven is fully ready to receive His son's treasured bride.

The Bride of Christ and the Second Coming

This revelation that we are Jesus' bride will be key in ushering in the second coming. After Jesus speaks of the end times in Matthew 24, He tells three parables about what the end times will be like. The first parable is the story of the ten virgins who go to meet the bridegroom. Sadly, the virgins fell asleep. Furthermore, only half of them were prepared. I am afraid this picture represents much of the church today. We have fallen "asleep "because of all the distractions we face. We may be awake physically, but the church is mostly sleeping. The internet, Snap Chat, Facebook, etc. has created a buzz of activity that has lulled our spirits to sleep. We cannot keep up with everything and we hardly have dove's eyes. As the bride of Christ preparing for our big day, we need to be both alert and ready for His coming!

The book of Revelation closes with Jesus saying, "Behold, I am coming soon!" and the response to that is, "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!'" (Revelation 22:12,17, & 20). The Holy Spirit is calling Jesus to come, but so is the Bride. As we awaken to our identity as His bride, a cry in our heart will arise. That cry will be for Jesus to come. Jesus is returning for a bride. Part of us "arising and shining" is understanding this and being full of Him! This is what will keep our lamps full of oil.

On the sixth day of Creation, an important thing happened. God made both man and beasts. Adam was in charge, and was given the task of naming the animals. This moment in creation symbolizes this current day in age, as we are now six-thousand years from Adam. Each day of creation represents the corresponding millennium of human history. My book 7,000 Years explores this more fully. Just as Adam reached a peak of dominion on the sixth day, we have reached a peak of dominion in the sixth millennium. Technological advances over the past 50 years have given humans dominion we never dreamt was possible in previous generations. We are literally at the end of time that Daniel prophesied about when he said we will rush around to and fro in order to increase knowledge (12:4).

Even with the world at our fingertips, we find ourselves with an ache in our heart. We know we are made for more than what the world can offer us. Something is missing. Adam realized this. He told God that he could not find a suitable partner in the garden. God then responded and gave him a bride. Like Adam, the world cannot offer us what we need. There is a God-sized hole in our heart, and no amount of self effort or technology can fill it. If anything, every advance just reminds us of how much we need Jesus. After six days, Adam cried out to God and a wedding took place. As these six-thousand years come to a close, a cry is rising among the saints. The bride is crying out for Jesus. I expect a wedding to take place very soon.

When Jesus does return we get to join Him at the wedding banquet of the Lamb (Revelation 19:6-9). Just as an earthy wedding is celebrated with a meal, so will our betrothal to Jesus be marked with a heavenly feast and ceremony. God has it all worked out. He has spared no expense to make sure His son receives the rewards due for his sufferings. We are Jesus' reward. We are the bride He gave His life for.

We must not overlook the implications of being betrothed to Jesus. This means that we are beloved and chosen before the beginning of time (Ephesians 1:4). This means that we are more to God than a rescue mission. This means that He is wildly in love with us. This means that God felt the cross was worth it. This means that He is excited about you!

The next time you're at a wedding watch the groom. Take note of the look in his eyes as the bride appears. That is how Jesus is looking at you right now! Take a moment and close your eyes and allow His joy, delight, love and excitement to wash over you.
Discussion Questions

  1. Do you see yourself as an object of God's passionate love? If so, how does that touch your heart? If not, what do you think is preventing this truth from ministering to you?
  2. As we've seen in this chapter, wedding language is found throughout Scripture. Why do you think it is important to meditate on being the "bride of Christ"? What does this image establish that others cannot?

Chapter 10

Ambassadors, Authority and Apostles

"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us." 2 Corinthians 5:20

Over the years in South Africa, I became well acquainted with the American Embassy and Consulate. If I ever needed to conduct any business related to our families' American status/paperwork, I would make a trip to one of these places. We had to go to renew my passport, report our daughter's birth, apply for a birth certificate and social security number and to get my wife's American visa, among other things. The embassy is governed by America's Ambassador to South Africa. His role is to represent the United States, and oversee any areas where American jurisdiction is involved. As the highest ranking official on foreign soil, he establishes and represents the interests of the United States.

In the same way, we are Jesus' ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20). It should shake us to realize that God does not call us his diplomats or representatives. As His ambassadors, we have full authority to establish heaven's reality here. Just as the ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat in a foreign environment, so we are each the highest ranking officer from heaven. Some of us believe this, and some do not. A day-old believer has more authority than the devil. The only question is whether we believe this.

Our assignment is to establish and represent the interests of His heaven on this earth. We are foreigners here, just as I was a foreigner in South Africa. This theme is repeated over and over again in Scripture. In the Bible, believers are called aliens, which is another word for foreigner. Peter addressed us saying, "Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world..." (1 Peter 2:11). Even though we are born on earth, God considers us strangers here (1 Peter 1:1).

Hebrews 11, which is Scripture's Hall of Fame account, records the exploits of the heroes of faith. The following passage describes how they thought of themselves: "And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had the opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country – a heavenly one" (Hebrews 11:13b-15). The people who operated in the greatest levels of faith did so because they understood they were now representing a different kingdom.

We actually don't belong here. In fact, we are no longer from the world, which is why Philippians 3:20 says "our citizenship is in heaven." In the physical, I was a citizen of America living in South Africa. In the spirit, I am a citizen of heaven, living on earth. We are in this world, but we are not of this world. I'll explore this more in depth in section five of the book (Position).

I travel with a U.S. passport. This entitles me to all the rights and privileges of being an American in a non-American environment. If there is a conflict or if the government is overthrown and I am in jeopardy, my status as an American will ensure that my government will do whatever it can to help me. In the same way, as citizens of heaven we carry a "kingdom passport" that allows us to advance in environments that are worldly. Should we find ourselves in need, the resources of heaven are at our disposal.

The majority of Americans do not have passports. This makes sense because of the size of our nation. Since America is so big and people mostly speak the same language, it's easy and comfortable to never leave. As a result, we don't have to travel in unfamiliar environments. While this is comfortable and unchallenging, many Americans are not exposed to much cultural diversity. Europeans, on the other hand, can hardly travel a few hours before they are in a new country that speaks a different language. They are forced into diverse experiences. As a result, Americans are often underexposed to cultural diversity.

This to me is a sad metaphor of how much of the western church has declined. Because church has become so comfortable and easy, people do not need to step out in faith and try new things. The western church is like a big America where faith is not easily challenged, and where people do not need to engage the kingdom of heaven. Meanwhile, the church in China is constantly challenged by its circumstances, and therefore faith is always required. This opens them up to experience God's kingdom in increased measure, and incredible advancement is the result.

When I want to travel somewhere, I need apply for a visa, which is then stamped or placed in my passport. That visa gives me access to a country I did not have access to before. Some visas come without any effort. You get them on arrival. Others require a process. As foreigners on earth, God gives us some things immediately on arrival, while it seems other areas involve a process. The more we encounter God and understand that we have access to heaven's resources, the more we'll appeal to the Father in prayer for them. As we do so, new realms in our kingdom passport are opened and new visas are given to establish heaven on earth. As ambassadors of heaven, we cannot become content with business as usual. There are visas available that will open up realms we have never seen before.

Authority: Signet Rings

Several times in Scripture we see an image of a king or father placing a signet ring on someone. A signet ring is embedded with a seal representing that person's authority. Wherever the seal is used, his/her authority is invoked. When a signet ring was given to someone, it signified that he/she was being given the authority of the person who owned the ring.

When Pharaoh made Joseph ruler over Egypt, the first thing he did was to place his ring on Joseph's finger: "

So Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.' Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him, 'Make way!' Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt (Genesis 41:41-43).

We have seen that the robes of fine linen are a symbol for being clothed in Jesus' righteousness. The signet ring is a symbol of carrying his authority. When Pharaoh took his ring off of his finger and put it on Joseph's, he was authorizing Joseph to conduct Egypt's affairs.

The same thing happens when King Xerxes gives Mordecai his signet ring that was reclaimed from the evil Haman (Esther 8:2), making Mordecai second in rank only to the king. In both cases, Mordecai and Joseph are considered rulers of the land, while still reporting to the king. Likewise, we are considered rulers who report to The King.

There is another account where a ring is given. In the parable of the prodigal son, the father treats his son the same manner as Joseph and Mordecai. When the son returns home, his father runs to him and embraces him. After he repents the father immediately commands his servants: "Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet" (Luke 15:22). This story is meant to illustrate what happens when we turn to God. This young man came back to his father in a destitute state. I can imagine that he was dirty and stinking. Still his father embraced him. We must never allow our sinful state to keep us away from the love of our heavenly Father. The father in this story makes a way to cover his son's filth with his BEST robe. Again, the robe is the righteousness of Jesus that covers us when we repent. He then puts a ring on his finger, marking a transfer of authority. The father is telling everyone: "When you see my son, you see me."

When we become children of God, we are given His authority. Jesus tells his followers, "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome ALL the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you" (Luke 10:19). The reason we are able to be ambassadors of Christ and conduct His business is because He has authorized us to do so. He has given us his signet ring, and instructs us to conduct business in His name!

Apostles

Bill Johnson teaches that the word "apostle" is one that Jesus borrowed from the Romans. When the Romans would conquer new territories, they would send an apostle to that place. The goal of the apostle was to make the new territory like Rome. He was sent to prepare the way so that when the emperor visited he would find the region operating just as Rome did.

Similarly we are "sent ones" with the mandate to make earth reflect heaven. Our realms of influence should function as heaven functions. Apostles are those who are sent to make that happen. Now, I understand we are not all called to be "Apostles," but we are all meant to be apostolic. We are all meant to make our environment look like heaven. This is why Jesus commands us to pray for God's will to be done and His kingdom to come on earth as it is heaven. Don't overthink this. Your environment is wherever you are. It can be your home, your office, your friends, your family, etc.

Believing we are all meant to be apostolic may be a stretch for some, but let me ask a question: are we all meant to share the gospel? I think we would agree that the answer to this question is "yes". Yet, not all of us are called to be "Evangelists." Similarly, we are all meant to be equipped to teach God's truths to others, but not all of us are meant to operate as "Teachers." We would probably also agree that God wants all to be pastoral in the way we serve and love each other even if we are not the "Pastor." Here's where it gets tricky: many believers have never been taught they are also meant to be apostolic and prophetic, even if they are not specifically designated as "Apostles" and "Prophets." This is a huge problem in the church today because the roles of the apostolic and prophetic are listed as the most important for the church (see Ephesians2:20, 4:12, and 1 Cor. 12:28). These are critical; yet in some places they are non-existent. The most important ministries of the New Covenant church are often neglected because of a wrong understanding. The result is that the church lacks the maturity needed to be fully effective for the kingdom of God.

In order to fulfill our apostolic mandate, we ALL need to realize that God has sent us. Apostles are "sent ones." Our vision of being sent tends to be too small. We picture apostles as being limited to church planters. It's much more than that. Wherever we are is where we have been sent. When the Bible calls us ambassadors of Christ, it is drawing from our apostolic identity. It is calling us heaven's representatives, and we have been given heaven's authority. The more we begin to accept this part of our identity, the more we will begin to see our environment reflect heaven.
Discussion Questions

  1. How does seeing yourself as a foreigner on earth influence your priorities in life? What are some ways that you are "living for eternity"?
  2. Where has God sent you? Think about wherever you currently are. How can you function as an ambassador for God in that environment?
  3. What does it mean to you that you have been given authority by God?

Part III

Proclamations
Chapter 11

The Power of Our Words

I once counseled a young man who was having an identity crisis. His particular problem was related to gender confusion. Part of him wanted to be a female. As I mentioned before, whenever I am counseling someone, I try to look for a root that is producing bad fruit in that person's life. There tends to be a core deception they have believed. Often that deception has been with them so long that they accept it as normal. Deceived people do not know that they are deceived, which is the nature of deception.

This young man's root issue went all the way back to when he was born. His mom was hoping for a little girl. When he was born, his mother proclaimed over him that he was her little girl. He grew up being told he was a girl. The words spoken over him were affecting his identity and how he saw himself.

Whenever someone believes they are not beautiful or that they are a failure or that they are unworthy of love, I always ask the question, "Who told you that?" What they are believing about themselves is something someone else actually said! No one comes to believe they are unloved or unworthy or ugly on their own. They were told by someone, and if they accept those words as truth, then that reality will define them and become part of their identity. Whatever is destroying people's identity, did not come from our Father. His words uplift and affirm.

In his book Developing the Leader Within You, John Maxwell further illustrates this point through a study he quotes:

Researchers are turning up new evidence to support the old truth that encouragement brings out the best in people. In one experiment, adults were given ten puzzles to solve. All ten were exactly the same for all adults. They worked on them and turned them in and were given results at the end. However, the results were fictitious. Half of the exam takers were told they had done well, getting seven of ten correct. The other half were told they had done poorly, getting seven of ten wrong. Then all were given another ten puzzles. Again, the puzzles were the same for each person. The half who had been told they had done well with the first puzzles did better with the second set. The other half did worse. Criticism, even though it was given falsely, ruined them.

What we say about ourselves and others matters...a lot. What we say is a reflection of what we believe, for "out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks" (Luke 6:45). As we saw in chapter four, our beliefs about ourselves shape our identity. Whether we are willing to accept it or not, our words also represent our reality. This is why Proverbs tells us that the tongue has the power to bring life or death (Proverbs 18:21).

John Maxwell shares another powerful study done by Nell Mohney that illustrates the power of our words. In the experiment a group of three teachers were randomly selected and were given ninety random students. They were told that because they were the BEST teachers, they had been given the BEST students. Everyone was excited about the arrangement and the students performed exceptionally well. They scored between 20 percent and 30 percent higher than the other students in the entire area. When the results were explained, the teachers assumed it was due to their excellent teaching ability. It was then explained to the teachers that they were normal teachers. Of course, the teachers then attributed their success to the fact that they had the "best" students. When they were told they were also given normal students selected at random, they were astonished that the results were so good. The answer lies in the biblical truth that words have power, and they can bring life or they can bring death. The teachers believed they had the best students, therefore they created an atmosphere that drew out the best in the students and themselves. Words form beliefs. Beliefs become realities.

Let us not forget that words can create. When God wanted to create He spoke. Because words can form worlds or realities, we need to be careful which words we allow in our lives. Are we receiving the Word of God or the word of this world?

If You Can't Say Something Nice...

Because our words are so powerful, there are times in Scripture where people are told to keep quiet or are even forced to. The reason for this is that if they had spoken, they would have undermined what God was doing. They did not have faith for what was about to happen, and their negative declaration would have hindered the work of God instead of helping. This is why God told Joshua and the Israelites to keep quiet while they marched around Jericho for seven days. God's plans can seem foolish from a worldly perspective, and the Jericho battle strategy certain fit the bill for being outrageous. After all, God will "choose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise," and "the weak things of the world to shame the strong" (1 Corinthians 1:27).

I wonder what would have happened if the Israelites began to discuss and speak about how crazy it was to march quietly around the walls for seven days. If they started talking about their battle strategy, surely someone would have commented on the absurdity of the plan. They might have begun to doubt the promise of God, and they might have even gone back into the desert. It was because of declarations of doubt that the Israelites did not enter the Promised Land the first time around. Ten spies spoke death, and two spoke life. Both told the truth about what they saw, but only Caleb and Joshua spoke the truth from heaven's perspective. As a result, the people listened to the hopeless report, and they began to hope less. Their hopelessness quickly turned into despair, and while they wept and grumbled into the night the promise of God was abandoned.

It is very important that we are careful about how we let news affect our heart. News can easily draw us away from the character and nature of God. We need to meditate on what Solomon said about the news: news is not new. Solomon embraced this idea when he said around three thousand years ago that, "there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9). This statement is echoed throughout the book of Ecclesiastes. History repeats itself. If there was nothing new three thousand years ago, I'm pretty sure there is even less that is new now. Bad news has always been around. There are always times that seem hopeless. In those moments, we need to hear and declare whatever heaven is saying. We are not helping at all by lamenting over the negative report we heard on the evening news. When we do this we have started to let the "ten spies" control our perspective, and God's promises will be jeopardized.

Perhaps the worst news ever was that Jesus was going to be crucified. It's amazing that even in that terrible tragedy, Jesus was able to hear what heaven was saying. Jesus was able to see past the "bad news" and find joy. The book of Hebrews explains this saying, "for the joy set before him [Jesus] endured the cross" (12:2). Jesus was able to find joy in the midst of the tragedy that was His death. As a result, He was able to declare God's truth even while He spoke about His pending crucifixion. Jesus declared things like "Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment" (1 John 16:6-8). Jesus recognized that earthly understanding of the news of His death produced grief, but He was able to hear and declare heaven's reality that it would produce good. He spoke about how it was necessary in order for the Holy Spirit to be able to come, and He spoke about how amazing the ministry of the Holy Spirit would be.

What we declare can either cause us to embrace our identity or to abandon it. In the same way that Joshua commanded the Israelites to march silently around Jericho, Hezekiah refused to allow the people to speak to the king of Assyria when he was posing a serious threat to Israel. The Assyrian king was undefeated and Judah was next on his list of countries to take over. He sent a messenger to taunt the Israelites and to instill fear through a very effective propaganda campaign. Wisely, Hezekiah made sure not to allow the people to speak when this happened. He then went and sought God and got a word from the Lord. That word brought life and victory for the entire country. If the people were allowed to speak death and unbelief, their words may have led the nation astray.

There was actually a time when God forcefully kept someone from speaking. This happened when the angel Gabriel visited Zechariah in the temple and told him he was going to have a son, John the Baptist. The angel then explained all the things that John was going to accomplish. It was a powerful personal message. God's plans tend to seem ridiculous from an earthly perspective, and again this was one such plan. Zechariah had trouble believing the angel, partly because his wife was old and barren, and partly because the message was so incredible. Zechariah's doubt caused him to be unable to speak until his son was born. It would seem that God did not want him messing this up with his words.

We need to be so careful to guard what we say, and question the source of our words. Have our words come from heaven, or do they reveal an earthly perspective? What we say will eventually become what we see!

Let me share one more testimony. When I was in South Africa, I attended a conference with Steve Backlund. I highly recommend Steve and Wendy's ministry, Igniting Hope, to anyone who wants to excel in this area. Do yourself a favor and invite them to do a conference at your church and invite everyone you know. By the end of this conference, God impressed upon me that our school was going to make the news in South Africa for its kingdom endeavors and I had confidence that our school was going to pioneer revival. Both of these things came to pass.

When I came back to the school, God put it on my heart to tell our students that we had the best school in the country. When I did this, the message was burning in my heart, but it was received with complete silence. There was plenty of disbelief in the room. I then said the reason we have the best school was because we had the best students. They erupted in applause. I continued saying we were also the best because we had the best teachers. They were trapped. They had to cheer now because they were committed to believing we were the best. The cheering subsided some, but they did cheer. I then said we were the best because we had the best principal. Again there was cheering, though it was even less than before.

Over the next few months, I continued to remind the students of this fact, and we began to become the best school in the country. I saw our children begin to operate in this. It was never about being "the best." It was about seeing ourselves the way God sees us. John the disciple modeled this when he called himself the disciple that Jesus loved. It's not that Jesus did not love the others, it's that John had a burning revelation of the love of God. Other schools can also be "the best," we just needed to believe that God had a phenomenal plan for us.

I have been out of the school for two years now, and I recently got an email from my best friend in South Africa who works at the school. He told me this:

I must quickly share about an amazing three-day visit we had last week by Esme Schmitt, who runs "Raising revivalists" ministry (for kids). She was originally a Math lecturer at US (University of Stellenbosch) and then called into full time children's ministry. She travels internationally and has also taught in the USA, doing seminars with children and equipping teachers. After our first afternoon session with the teachers and spending only one day with the children she said, "I just want to tell you that what you have here, your children and how they experience God, is not found anywhere else – you guys have been at the forefront of revival and it will become bigger, and please know that I visit a lot of schools and churches all over the world." It, of course, confirms what you have always reminded the children, especially before you left.

It is important to know that I was sharing what God was putting on my heart to say. This is not simply operating out of the power of positive thinking. It is obeying God's word in the moment, and refusing to allow our circumstances to dictate our reality.

At one point after I told the children what I felt for the school, our head boy, or student body president, wanted to have a word with me. Masilu and I were very close, but he was troubled by my declaration that we had the best school. He humbly shared his concerns that I was operating in pride. I understood his point, and in trying to answer Him, I felt the Lord give me His wisdom. I told Masilu that if I actually believed we were the best school, then it would be pride to continue to say it. This was not pride because I did not really believe we were currently "the best" but I was declaring what God said about us, and thus, I was calling the things that are not as though they are. There is a place in God where we speak things in faith even when we do not see them. This is not ignorance or pride. It's faith. That's what I was doing at The King's Court. God was faithful and our school began to live up to its name and to its Isaiah 60:1 vision to arise and shine. In the next chapter how names can be significant proclamations. As we began to obey God, He came, and our school became the fulfillment our name. We became the King's Court!

We have to learn to partner with words that bring life, even when all we see is dry bones. Close your eyes and hear the word of God. His Word transcends circumstances. In the process you'll begin to hear from God –"the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were" (Romans 4:17). Go ahead and do it now. Keep a pen close by. Write down what he says, and mediate on His words. Treasure them in your heart as Mary did.

* * *

 John C. Maxwell, Developing the Leader Within You (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2001), 119.

 Maxwell, Developing the Leader Within You, p. 100.

 http://ignitinghope.com/
Discussion Questions

  1. What are some things that God has said about you and your future? Write them down. 
  2. What are some promises that He has given you from His word? Write those down as well.
  3. How can you treasure or assign value to the things that God has spoken to you?

Chapter 12

What Is In a Name?

In the story of Zechariah from the previous chapter, Zechariah was made mute because he did not believe God's promises about having a son. Since he was unable to speak, Zechariah's relatives were planning to name his son after him. When Elizabeth, his wife, disagreed with them and insisted the child would be called John, they turned to Zechariah for support. Surely, Zechariah was level headed and not given to religious fanaticism like his wife. John was not a family name and Elizabeth was acting out of line. Zechariah asked for a writing tablet and did something amazing. He wrote, "His name is John" (Luke 1:63). The very moment Zechariah agreed with the name God had given him, his lips were unsealed and he was allowed to speak again. What we are called, and what we call each other, is a big deal to God.

I wonder whether Zechariah would have agreed with John's name before that time. I certainly feel God was guarding John's purpose and destiny and was waiting for Zechariah to be in a position to be able to accept it and "declare" it.

In the Jewish culture, names had meanings and were a key to one's identity and purpose. The name Adam, for example, means "man" and is related to the word Adamah, which means "ground."Adam was the first man and he was made from the dust of the ground. His name was linked to his identity. Adam was then given the task of naming the animals. This significant task reflected the dominion and authority God had given Adam. As one who had dominion, the act of naming the animals was also one that was establishing their identity.

Adam also chose a name for his wife – Eve. We read in Genesis 3:20 that he did this because she would become the mother of all the living. Eve means living. Notice that when her name was given, she was not a mother. Her name was establishing something that was yet to come. It was linking her purpose with her identity.

Names and what we say about people are very important. They help determine our identity and purpose. Sometimes certain names and labels are not suitable to take us into the future God has for us. Some of us are living under names that are destroying our identity in Him. Repeatedly in Scripture we see God changing the names of people in order to match the purpose He called them to. Abram and Sarai became Abraham and Sarah. Saul was changed to Paul after his conversion experience, and Simon became Peter, which means "rock." God would give people a new name because it suited the destiny He had for them, and their identity needed to be established.

Jacob is a great example of someone who needed a new name. His name meant "deceiver." If you know anything about Jacob, you know he lived up to his name. He deceived his father and brother in order to get his birthright. He actually dressed up as his brother in order to trick his father Isaac and to receive his brother Esau's blessing. When Esau found out what happened, his response was telling: "Isn't he rightly named Jacob? He has deceived me these two times: He took my birthright, and how he's taken my blessing!" (Genesis 27:36). As soon as he realized what his brother had done to him, Esau linked Jacob's behavior to his name.

After deceiving his brother, Jacob ran away and met his match when he went to live with his uncle Laban. Still Jacob's deception did not end there. He deceived his uncle when he fled from him, and he deceived Esau again when he arrived back home. Yet, God had a plan and purpose for Jacob's life that was established before he was ever born. Jacob was meant to receive the promises of his grandfather, Abraham, and his father, Isaac.

God wanted to establish a nation through Jacob, and this purpose called for a new name.

After Jacob fought with God through the night and would not let go without being blessed, he was told, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome" (Genesis 32:28). This name change was the beginning of a new nation that still exists today. The name "Israel" not only characterized Jacob's resolve, but it established the identity of God's chosen people as a nation that would struggle with God and overcome.

Did you know that Revelation tells us God has a secret name for each of us that is known only to Him? It says, "To him who overcomes...I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives" (2:17). There is uniqueness and purpose to be found in our heavenly identity. What God declares over me is infinitely more significant than what people have to say. Too often we are weighed down by the negative and limiting words of the world. What we really need is to hear God call out our name.

After Jesus was resurrected, Mary Magdalene was at the tomb talking to Him. She mistakenly thought Jesus was the gardener and in her distress she asked him where he had taken Jesus. Jesus' one word reply is significant. He said her name: "Mary." In that moment, she knew exactly who she was talking to. We were made to hear the Lord say our name.

Our names are so special to God that He has indelibly engraved them into His hand (Isaiah 49:16). Imagine that. God is so in love with us that He has permanently etched our names on His hand.

Isaiah 62:2-5 is a beautiful picture of a name change in the Bible.

The nations will see your [Israel's] righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow. You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord's hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah [my delight is in her], and your land Beulah [married]; for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married. As a young man marries a maiden so will your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.

What a beautiful declaration God makes over Israel. He is speaking to her identity as a nation in whom He delights, and He is reminding His people that they are His bride. This is a powerful declaration of our role as God's delight in us as His bride. I know someone who actually changed her middle name to Hephzibah in order to remember this promise that God really does delight in her.

My first name is John which is my dad's name. When I was young, my father and I did not get along, and I despised having my dad's name. In my rebellion, I would scratch out the "John" part of my John Deere tractors. After I came to know the Lord, God restored my relationship with my dad. God also began to redeem my given name. I now love my full name, and I claim the name John just as much as I do the name Andrew. After all, John was the disciple who had a revelation of Jesus' love. The name John is SO meaningful, and God has been redeeming my understanding of it.

When my wife, Linzi, was pregnant with our daughter, we had agreed upon the first name "Rhema" which means the spoken word of God. Before we got married, this was one of two names we were in agreement over. The other is Samuel. When our first son is born, he will be named Samuel John. This middle name was birthed out of a place of redeemed respect and honor for my dad. I am emotional at this moment just realizing what God has done through the names he's given me.

While we agreed that our daughter would be Rhema, we did not have a middle name for her. Linzi did not want her to have a middle name, while I did. One day as I was walking through our home, I felt the Holy Spirit say, "Rhema Jewel." Now I have never personally liked names that were also objects, which is how I know this did not come from me. The more I thought about it, the more it fit, and the more peace I had about it. It took Linzi a while to get the same peace I had. At one point, she asked me if her middle name could just be a specific jewel...like Ruby or Sapphire or Pearl. In my heart, I could not settle for that. I wanted to be able to look at any precious jewel for the rest of my life, and tell my daughter that this was who she was to us and to God. This testimony was too precious to limit it to a specific jewel. I wanted her name to be part of establishing her identity!

Rhema officially received her name a couple of days after she was born, as Linzi still needed time to accept it. I cannot explain the peace I had over this, but I know it was from God. Once we named her, we knew it was who she was. Linzi or I will often call her "my jewel" and it fits...perfectly.

A couple of months after she was born, I was reading Proverbs, and I came upon this specific verse: "Gold there is, and rubies in abundance, but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel" (Proverbs 20:15). I was stunned because that verse contains my daughter's names. "Lips that speak knowledge" (Rhema – the spoken word of God) are a rare "jewel." Notice it says that gold and rubies are abundant, but what characterizes God's word is that it is a rare jewel. This is my daughter's mandate. It's part of her identity. This verse summarizes the role God has for her.

You may need to redeem your name, and rediscover the heart of God for you. This is what happened to my best friend in South Africa. His birth name was David, but when he was growing up he was called Dawie, the Afrikaans version of David. When I met him he went by "Dawie." I never even knew this was not his official name. At some point, he felt compelled by God to use his given name again. This became part of his testimony and his journey to operating in his God given identity. He is now David, and there has been a restoration for him of his purpose in the Lord.

Some people feel their name was given haphazardly. Even if that is the case, do not despair or feel shortchanged here. God already knew what your given name would be. Allow Him to redeem your name (if it needs to be redeemed) and allow Him to speak a new name to you, if that is something He wants to do. Also spend time allowing Him to speak other nicknames to you. It's OK to have a nickname between you and God. John's nickname was "Beloved." I'm sure God won't mind if you take that one. Jesus goes by other names and nicknames. So does God and Holy Spirit. We're allowed to have official names, secret names, nicknames and any other names that speak to our identity in Him. Don't limit God here!

You may need to let go of some names and titles that have destroyed your identity or have limited your purpose. Some of us were called names as children; the sting of those labels is still weighing us down and hanging over our head. It is holding us back. The best way to deal with such a deception is to refuse to accept that label, and to go back to the Father and hear what He has to say about us. What secret and unique names or nicknames does He want to speak over our lives? As we hear His voice and what He says about us, we will be empowered to live according to His great plans for us.

Dearest Hephzibah, may you truly enjoy plumbing the depths of your Father's delight in you! May you hear His voice, and may He call you by name.

* * *

 Richard Hess, "Genesis" in the NIV Zondervan Study Bible (eds. D. A. Carson et al.; New York: HarperCollins, 2002), 8 
Discussion Questions

  1. Spend some time writing down the names or nicknames that God has given you, and what they mean to you. 
  2. What are some names that have worked against your identity? Even nicknames given in jest can have a sting and hurt us. Make a decision to renounce these names and the effects they have had on you.

Part IV

Presence, Power & Promises
Chapter 13

The Presence of God

We are called to be powerful. So many promises in Scripture confirm this. We are not powerful because of anything we can do or have done. We are powerful because when we believe, God abides in us. It seems easy to believe in the idea that God dwells within us, but it is a whole different thing to transfer that belief into a personal reality that is in line with the promises of Scripture. Most Christians that the Spirit of God is within them, but they don't think they can do anything out of the ordinary.

It needs to mean something that God's Spirit lives in us. If this does not translate into a life altering revelation then something is wrong. I think one of the reasons this fails to stir us on to great things is because we don't understand the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God. He is just as much God as Jesus is and as the Father is. He is not third on the list in terms of importance. He is equally God.

Let's think about this. The God of the universe...the God who spoke galaxies into being...lives in me. That's powerful. His power and His ability dwell in me through the Holy Spirit. This was the message Paul was trying to convey to the church of Ephesus when he said the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is within us (Ephesians 1:18-19). It's the same message John the disciple was giving when he said in his letter, "the one in you is greater than the one who is in the world" (1 John 4:4). God living in me means that I operate in and through His power. What a challenge!

One of my favorite verses is John 16:7, where Jesus said, "But I tell you truth: It is good for you that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you." The Counselor is another name for the Holy Spirit. Jesus is saying that it's actually better for us that He is leaving. This profound statement begs the question as to how this could be possible.

It is better for us for a couple of reasons. One is that the Holy Spirit now takes up residence within us, which is just awesome on so many levels. Another reason Jesus makes this statement is that we can now all encounter God through the presence of His Spirit. When Jesus walked the earth, one would have needed to go to Israel to hear what He said and to "meet Him." Obviously, this presented some limitations. The story of the men who broke through a roof to get their friend to Jesus comes to mind. If you were not physically close to Jesus, you could not experience Him. The woman who pushed through the crowd to touch His garment understood this all too well. Now because of the Holy Spirit, we can encounter God through His Spirit. No matter where we are, we can each come into God's presence and hear His voice.

I think some are probably more comfortable with the idea of meeting Jesus than with the idea of meeting the Holy Spirit. Where this is the case, it is because people fail to understand that the Holy Spirit is God, just as Jesus is God. There is a problem with any theology that expresses doctrinal belief in the Trinity yet virtually ignores the Holy Spirit. God the Father and Jesus are in heaven at the moment. Any encounter we will have with them now is through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us until the time Jesus returns. If we do not understand the Holy Spirit, we will be limited in our capacity to walk in relationship with God and to operate in His power.

It should probably not surprise us that the work of the Holy Spirit has been attacked and persecuted in this time. We find this pattern throughout the Bible. In the Old Testament, God the Father would speak through prophets and other people, and the religious establishment would kill and persecute any messenger of God. In the New Testament, Jesus came and the religious establishment continued the pattern. They persecuted and killed Jesus along troubled anyone who preached in Jesus' name. Now the religious establishment finds it all too easy to reject the work of the Holy Spirit.

Ironically, the people of Jesus' day rejected his teaching, saying they believed the teachings of Moses. They said, "We are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don't even know where he comes from" (John 9:28b-29). The religious leaders appealed to their acceptance of Moses as a reason to kill Jesus, but Jesus exposed their duplicity saying, "If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say" (John 5:46-47). This is powerful. Jesus is essentially saying that they never really believed in Moses, for if they had they would have believed in Him as well.

The same thing is happening today where much of the religious establishment is now rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit in the name of believing the Bible and what Jesus said. If we truly believed Jesus, we would accept the very Spirit whom He said would come, and we would have faith for the promises Jesus made about the coming of the Holy Spirit. For too many people, the Trinity looks more like "Father, Son and Holy Bible"; they profess faith for what happened in the past without operating in any faith or recognition of what God is doing right now.

Carriers of His Presence

Because He lives in us through the Holy Spirit, we are carriers of His presence. Before Jesus died and the veil was torn, the presence of God resided in the Ark of the Covenant, which was placed in the tabernacle. The ark was built in the desert during the Exodus when there was not a permanent temple. The temple was mobile, as were the Israelites. When the Pillar of Cloud lifted, they would pack up their camp and move with God.

It is really interesting to note that all the fixtures of the temple had rings on them, including the ark. These items were meant to be carried on the shoulders of the Levites (the priests). Whenever the ark was moved, the priests were to insert wooden poles through the rings in order to move it, along with the other items of the temple. There was a time in Israel's history when King David wanted to move the ark back to Jerusalem, and he used an ox cart. An interesting thing happened. The oxen that were pulling the cart stumbled and Uzzah reached out to protect the ark. Amazingly, Uzzah was struck down instantly for his irreverent act of touching the ark of God. I had a hard time understanding why God would do such a thing to someone who was trying to help Him. All Uzzah was doing was trying to keep the ark from falling, and he ended up losing his life (2 Samuel 6:6-6).

After this happened, David was angry and afraid. He also did not fully understand why God struck Uzzah down. David ended up leaving the ark at the house of Obed-Edom. The result was that Obed-Edom's house was blessed. When David heard of the blessing of the ark, he decided to try again to bring the ark to Jerusalem. The difference with the second attempt was that David did it the right way; he had the priests carry the ark (2 Samuel 6:1-15).

Like David, I struggled with this until I realized that the ark was meant to be carried on the shoulders of the priests. It was never supposed to be on a cart. This is hugely significant because in having the priests carry the ark, God was foreshadowing our role today. As priests we carry the presence of God...inside of us! This was such a big deal to God that He wanted to illustrate this kingdom principal through the way the temple and the ark was transported. Uzzah's story emphasizes the revelation that God's glory is meant to be carried by his people.

One of the key verses that convey this message is found in 1 Corinthians 3:16:"Don't you know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?" The ark was housed in the Most Holy Place in the temple, and it was where God's presence dwelt. The temple as the dwelling place of God is a picture of who we are and how God sees us.

God was very detailed in specifying how the temple was to be built. It was built according to the pattern that God gave King David in 1 Chronicles 28:11-19. This major project required vast amounts of gold, silver and precious metals. Even today we would have a hard time comprehending the value of this building. "Added together, the gold and silver used along in Solomon's Temple was worth $216,603,576,000. This does not include all the precious metals, bronze, iron, ivory, or cedar wood used in the temple...the total cost of Solomon's temple including the labor costs (153,000 forced laborers) would have been well over half a billion, a cost simply unimaginable in today's world for one building." To put it in perspective, Wikipedia lists the most expensive building in the world as the Palace of Versailles at 15.49 billion. The most expensive building in the U.S. is Apple Park at 5 billion. These buildings are just a fraction of the estimated 500 billion dollars that Solomon's Temple cost.

These numbers are beyond comprehension even by modern standards. The extravagance was unprecedented in history. What makes my head spin as I consider the 500 billion dollar temple is that God said I was that temple. The temple is meant to be a picture of how God sees us. In fact, as a metaphor, the temple is not as valuable in God's eyes as we are. A picture of a person is never as valuable as the person. Part of the reason God spent all that money was to show us who we are. He did it to reveal our identity. The temple depicts us because we are meant to host the Spirit of God.

One could consider it arrogance to think of ourselves in terms of a 500 billion dollar building project, but this is how God thinks of us. We were bought at a price that exceeds even that amount. We need to start to think this way in terms of our godly significance. The cave man myth was designed to destroy our value and identity as being designed by God. The temple is one of many Biblical proofs that humans have always been highly intelligent. If we have eyes to see, we'll see just how capable people were in Biblical times. The temple was built nearly 3,000 years ago and is the most lavish building ever constructed. How incredible is it that such a project is unmatched even in "modern" times? Furthermore, Solomon had a fleet of boats that were away for three years at a time and came back with apes and baboons, presumably from Africa (1 Kings 10:22). Columbus sailed for a few months and "discovered" America five hundred years ago and we make a huge deal about it. Solomon was sailing around the world for years at a time nearly three thousand years ago and no one says anything about it. This should be in our history books, not some fabricated drawings of cave men.

In the fourth chapter of Genesis, we find Jabal raising livestock, Jubal making and playing musical instruments, and Tubal-Cain forging bronze and iron (Genesis 4:20-22). These men were eight generations from Adam and lived around 5,000 years ago. People were using brick and mortar to build a tower that could reach to the sky over 4,000 years ago (Genesis 11:1-4). These incredible achievements serve as proof that God's people have always been technologically advanced. Yes, I know that historically there were people who were behind the times. So what? There are still people today who have been cut off from the world. The bottom line is that evolution is a terrible lie that has told us that we were not created in God's image. The truth is we are made in His image and we have been given His Spirit.

We need to rediscover the other "3:16" in the Bible: 1 Corinthians 3:16. We've rightly emphasized John 3:16, which is a great verse talking about salvation. Once people are saved, the emphasis should shift to the other monumental 3:16 verse, which talks about God's spirit living in us. If we fail to make this transition, we will remain baby Christians who are just waiting to die and go to heaven, without realizing that we have the ability to bring heaven to earth. Let's discover what it means to have the Spirit of God dwelling in us.

* * *

 http://althistory.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:PitaKang/Funday_Monday_1:_How_much_did_Solomon's_Temple_cost%3F

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_expensive_buildings

 https://biblescienceguy.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/4-tower-of-babel-when/
Discussion Questions

  1. What are the implications of having God dwell within you? As you consider this question don't limit yourself based on human reasoning. 
  2. Does anything need to shift in your life regarding your view of the Holy Spirit? 
  3. Has your view of yourself been sabotaged by evolutionary teaching? What truths have emerged in this chapter that can help you see your value as God sees it?

Chapter 14

Power

One of the biggest lies undermining Christianity today is the belief that the miraculous is no longer in operation. Over and over again, believers have been taught that the gifts of the Spirit were given only for a time, and that they are no longer necessary because we have the Bible.

The nature of the enemy is that he is the deceiver of the brethren. The enemy cannot overcome us in a fair fight. He's playing with a losing hand. To use a poker analogy, he has the two of clubs and every other card will beat his. The only way he can gain influence in our life is to convince us to trade hands with him. To do that, he relies on subtle trickery. One of his favorite lies is that the days of the supernatural have come to an end.

This is untrue. But the enemy knows that the power of God in us is the trump card. He's convinced us that our Ace (the power of God) is really useless now and we should just discard it.

This lie is easy to believe because it's convenient. It's easy to believe because it means we do not really need faith once we get saved. We just need to believe in Jesus and give our lives to Him and then do our best to live as He wants us to live until we die and go to a better place. While this may initially seem easier, it is not God's heart for us. It also creates a Christian experience devoid of any real faith. Instead of living by faith and walking in faith as we are biblically called to do, faith is limited to a single event of accepting Christ as our Lord. After that, we define faith as believing in Jesus. Since we have already made that choice, we can coast our way into eternity.

This deception is wrong on so many levels, and it causes many to live a meaningless life. Let us not forget that it was "by faith" that people like Noah, Abraham and Moses acted in ways that transformed the world around them. There is a good reason why Hebrews 11 continues to repeat the phrase "by faith" over and over again. That chapter records the choices and decisions made by the heroes of faith who preceded us. It also tells us that those people never saw the ultimate fulfillment of God's promises. They were still living by faith when they died (Hebrews 11:39). To live by faith means to trust in a reality that is beyond what we can do. It requires trusting God for the impossible.

Limiting God Based on Personal Experience

Complicating matters in this area is many people's lack of exposure to the miraculous. They limit their faith to what they have experienced themselves. This is what Thomas did after the resurrection. All the other disciples experienced Jesus after he rose. When everyone told Thomas what happened, he was unwilling to operate in faith. Instead he demanded to see Jesus himself before he believed. Jesus did appear to Thomas as well, and His message is one that we should keep close to our hearts: "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed" (John 20:29). There are enough promises of God using us to do miracles that we should have no problem believing God's word for the supernatural. Yet, I'm afraid we find it convenient to respond like Thomas did when we don't see these promises fulfilled in front of our eyes.

A close person in my life once told me that he was eager to see God do something supernatural, so he went to an event where it was supposed to be happening. He left disappointed. His conclusion was that the supernatural was just not available anymore. I have a feeling others feel this way as well. They have agreed with their experience and stopped seeking the power of God. When we do this, we are acting as Thomas did. Even though Jesus had promised Thomas he would rise, Thomas refused to believe it until he saw it.

Let's not miss this. Thomas had a promise from Jesus that he would rise again, but he failed to apply faith even after others had shared their testimony. Where we have made up our mind to limit God to our personal experience, then no amount of "evidence" can convince us otherwise. Sadly, in these cases, God begins to look a lot like we do!

I did not believe in Jesus' death and resurrection because I personally experienced it. I never saw it happen. At some point, I had to believe what God's word teaches me about this. I needed faith. Once I applied faith, it became a reality in my life in a tangible way. It is inconsistent and wrong to apply faith to one part of God's word and only personal experience to another. God is not limited to my personal experience of Him. Don't get me wrong... it is essential that we all personally experience God. My point is just that my faith in His word cannot be limited to what I have experienced. My personal experiences will begin to follow my faith.

Too many Christians are held back by a worldview that only values what they have already experienced. In short, they grow to a certain point, and during that growth phase they are teachable and willing to learn new things. We are all a work in process and we should all be growing in our understanding of God, but something happens when growth seems to stop. When that occurs, people start to think they know all there is to know about God. Anything outside of their understanding gets rejected. God's ways become neatly packaged in a controlled environment, and they use some lame excuse about God being a "God of order". In other words, if it's beyond their understanding it can't be God. The irony in that excuse is that the Scripture that mentions that God is a "God of order" and "not a God of disorder" is the same passage that gives instructions on prophesying and speaking in tongues in a service (1 Corinthians 14:33, 40). The very people who stand on the idea of an "orderly" God would likely deny that either of those apply today. It can become all too easy to use the Bible to justify our dysfunction.

When we limit God to our experiences, He becomes a powerless neutered reflection of our human reasoning. We see this happening often in churches where people try to control everything. This is why religion cannot bring life...only a relationship can.

I love how Jesus always did things differently. He would heal people in different ways. Just when it seemed you could put a finger on Jesus and "figure Him out," He changed tactics. In one case, he would lay hands on someone, in another He would speak and they would be healed, and in another He would tell the person to do something. Jesus even spit on people to heal them. I believe He did this to protect us from our own reasoning, and to prevent us from construct a healing "formula."

In order to see God's power at work, it must come from a relationship. It is not my ability that heals the sick, but when we think we have a formula, we can very easily start to rely on ourselves and ignore God completely over the matter. Jesus healed differently in order to keep us in relationship with Him and to trust Him for His wisdom when we face specific situations.

This is also why God kept changing the battle strategy in the Promised Land. The first battle Israel fought was against Jericho, and they were given a very weird assignment: walk around the walls once a day for six days and keep quiet. Then do it seven times on the seventh day and shout. The incredible strategy worked. I'm sure a more than a few people were pleasantly surprised when it did. Still, they never fought that way again. The battle tactics constantly changed. God desires relationship. He does not want our limited understanding of Him to be our source; He wants to fulfill our needs personally.

There are so many one-time events in Scripture. There was only one burning bush. There was only one time God used a fleece to confirm His word. There was only one time a man walked on water with Jesus. There was only time God wrestled with a man. There was only once that God parted the Red Sea. The list goes on.

Can you imagine if Moses and the people refused to accept any encounter that did not come in the form of a burning bush? I bet that more than one person went to a bush to pray after what happened with Moses. And yet, we only have one record of God using a burning bush. If the Israelites limited God to that form of encounter, the Bible would have been a very short book. In the same way, if we limit God to that which we have known personally, I believe we are shortening heaven's history books of our exploits.

The Bible is a divinely inspired compilation of events where God encountered His people with the purpose of establishing relationship with them. It is a completed book and nothing can be added to it or taken away. However, heaven's history is still being written, and God clearly doesn't have a problem doing something different.

Some people focus on Scripture alone, and they say that if it's not in Scripture than it's not from God. One problem with this thinking is how do we discern matters that are never mentioned in Scripture? How do I decide my career path, or how do I choose my wife? Surely God wants to speak to me about decisions like where to live and which house to buy. At a minimum, I'm am sure He wants my heart postured in a way that I at least want to hear what He has to say about these things.

God is still speaking to us. This does not mean He is still writing the Bible. It just means He did not go mute when John penned the last word in the Book of Revelation. When Jesus says that "man does not live on bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4), he is not referring to past words that God spoke. He is referring to the words God is currently speaking and the words in the future that will come from God. Notice what Jesus tells his followers in John 8:47:"He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason that you do not hear is that you do not belong to God." God is certainly still speaking to His children.

Dismissing the miraculous is not uncommon. In fact, when Jesus performed miracles or spoke of miracles, His ministry was not well received. The Pharisees and teachers of the law are often quoted in the Bible as saying Jesus had a demon and was driving out demons through the devil's power. One of the miracles that was particularly aggravating for them was when Jesus healed the man born blind. When the man says that Jesus healed him, they refused to believe him.

In order to trap Jesus, the Pharisees kept questioning the man about the details of what happened, and he said to them: "I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?" (John 9:27). Their response to him was striking: "They hurled insults at him and said, 'You are this fellow's disciple! We are disciples of Moses, but as for this fellow we don't even know where he comes from" (9:28). Their contempt for Jesus is tangible. The reason for their disgust is that Jesus performed a supernatural miracle.

It is incredibly profound that Jesus' miracles were not accepted by the religious community of his day. Ironically, they accepted Moses' miracles. The only thing that has changed between then and now is that now the religious community accepts Moses' miracles and Jesus' miracles, but refuses to accept any miracles that are happening today. Do you see a pattern emerging? It's easy to accept something in the past as being possible. It's a lot harder to have faith in the present for something we haven't seen.

To put it differently, faith requires some element of risk. Faith is not easy. For me to believe in the supernatural without experiencing it requires faith. For me to believe that Jesus is God requires faith. Faith is not a once-off experience that gets me saved and in the door. It's a lifestyle. The Bible puts it this way: "We live by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7).

At some point it can become too challenging to continue to live by faith, so we just adjust our theology to match our lifestyle and appease our conscience. We have to be on guard against this. As we'll see, there's so much more for us. There are too many powerful promises to ignore. As carriers of His presence, we have the answer the world needs. The enemy knows it, and his only hope is to get us to believe we are not powerful, hence the great deception that we are now powerless.
Discussion Questions

  1. Have you had a wrong idea about God still doing miracles today? If so repent and ask God to reveal His truth to you. 
  2. Do you believe that God still speaks today? How has this chapter influenced your understanding in this matter?
  3. How are you currently living by faith? To put it differently, when is the last time you risked something for God? Is there something you can do to take a risk and trust God's power, such as laying hands and praying for someone you know who is sick?

Chapter 15

Promises

There is a promised land for us today as the New Testament church. The Promised Land was really a big deal to the Patriarchs, and anything that significant in the Old Testament has a New Testament fulfillment. A classic example of this was the Passover lamb that was fulfilled in the crucifixion of Jesus.

When we read the Old Testament, we see that God had a good plan for His children. God used the life of Moses to deliver His people to a physical place of prosperity called the Promised Land. Descriptions of this land always speak of abundance and blessing. For example, when the Lord spoke to Moses through the burning bush He said,: "I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey ..." (Exodus 3:8). This rescue mission represents what Jesus came to do. Just as the Israelites were in bondage to the Egyptians, so we are in bondage to sin. Egypt represents the slavery of our sin, for whoever sins is a slave to sin (John 8:34).

Let's consider in this chapter what the Promised Land represents. What is the good and spacious place the Lord has for us in the New Covenant? What is the place that flows with abundant provision? The answer to this question is what separates prosperous priests from shackled slaves.

The Difference Between John's Ministry and Jesus'

A good starting point in understanding the New Covenant we live under is to notice the difference between the ministry of John the Baptist and Jesus. While there are several differences, John the Baptist points out something much of the modern church seems to have overlooked. He said, "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire" (Luke 3:16; see also Matthew 3:11 & Mark 1:8). What separated John's ministry from Jesus' was that Jesus would baptize not just with water but with the Holy Spirit. This represents a tremendous and meaningful shift in the work of God in the earth – one that massively affects our identity.

Jesus said something very profound about John the Baptist that highlights this shift: "Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he" (Matthew 11:11). In essence, Jesus says that John is the greatest. Jesus then goes on to say that even the least in the kingdom is greater than John. He is speaking about an "upgrade" whereby everyone would be "greater" than the "greatest" was up until that point. This is a powerful statement that applies to us personally! A modern day comparison might be a new type of phone model that makes every previous model obsolete.

When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about being born again, He mentioned that we cannot even see the kingdom of God unless we are born again (John 3:3). He went on to say that we cannot enter the kingdom unless we are born of water and of the Spirit (John 3:5), which referred to water baptism and Spirit baptism. Do you remember how John said he baptized with water, but Jesus would baptize with the Spirit? It is the baptism of the Holy Spirit that will enable the believer to have a starting point that is greater than John the Baptist's powerful ministry.

This baptism of the Spirit only happened on Pentecost after Jesus died and was resurrected. Jesus' followers received the Holy Spirit during Jesus' ministry on earth (John 20:22), and throughout the Old Testament people were filled with the Holy Spirit. Even John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit from birth (Luke 1:15). Still, this was not the same as the baptism of the Holy Spirit that God initiated on Pentecost. John the disciple gave the timing of when the Holy Spirit would be given in the following passage:

On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.' By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. (John 7:37-39)

The Holy Spirit was only to be given after Jesus was glorified. Even though we see people being filled and touched by the Spirit throughout the Bible, a new thing was going to be available after Jesus' ascent into heaven. This is the shift that separated the baptism John offered with the baptism Jesus brought. This is what it means to be "born again" and see and enter the kingdom. This is what changes everything.

The Holy Spirit Was "Promised"

Over and over again, the Holy Spirit is referred to as "promised." This is intentional. The Promised Land of the Old Testament foreshadows the promised Messiah, and the promised Holy Spirit. In the same way the Promised Land was a place of abundance for Israel, the baptism of the Holy Spirit brings us into the Kingdom of God where we find an abundance.

Jesus, Peter and Paul all reference the "promised" Holy Spirit. Jesus tells his followers: "I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high" (Luke 24:49). It is because of the promised Spirit that we are clothed with "power." This is the "upgrade". If the Holy Spirit empowers believers, then we can begin to understand why Jesus would say that anyone in the kingdom is actually greater than John.

Jesus further tells His followers not to leave Jerusalem, but to "wait for the gift that my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:4-5). Jesus highlights the fact that the Spirit was promised, and He distinguishes between John's baptism and the baptism that was going to be given in a few days.

When the Holy Spirit was poured out on Pentecost, Peter recognized that what was happening was exactly what was promised (Acts 2:17). In Acts 2:33, he specifically mentioned that the Holy Spirit was promised by God and had been poured out by Jesus. He goes on to explain who the promise is for: "Repent and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call" (Acts 2:38-39). In other words, the promised Holy Spirit is for everyone. It is for the people who were present at Pentecost, for their children, for those far away AND for everyone whom God will call. That includes you and me! This verse is an invitation to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

John the Baptist Was Strategically Positioned

Some amazing things stood out to me about John the Baptist's ministry. I believe God purposefully positioned him to illustrate the shift away from the desert experience and into the Promised Land being given to us through the Spirit.

The first thing that stood out to me was that John the Baptist actually grew up in the desert. I was listening to Scripture while I was running one day, when the last verse in the first chapter of Luke's gospel grabbed my attention: "And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the desert until he publically appeared to Israel" (1:80). I knew John ministered in the desert, but he actually spent his life there before his ministry. Just like the Israelites wandering in the desert before entering the Promised Land, John stayed in the desert until Jesus came.

John's gospel records that John baptized at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan (John 1:28). Bethany is right across the river from Jericho – where Joshua entered the Promised Land with the Israelites for the first time. After forty years of wandering in the desert, the Israelites entered the Promised Land exactly where John was baptizing in the Jordan.

Furthermore, the Israelites spent four hundred years in slavery in Egypt, without God speaking to them. In the same way, there was a four hundred year period of silence between the Old Testament and the New Testament where God did not speak to His people. This silence was broken when Gabriel approached John the Baptist's father in the temple to prophesy about John's birth. This is not a coincidence. Nor is it a coincidence that the very last verse in the Old Testament is the very first thing God speaks to John's father four hundred years later. The Old Testament ends with a prophecy about John, and the New Testament begins with the same prophecy.

See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.(Malachi 4:5-6)

He will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children... (Luke 1:17)

After four hundred years of God not speaking, He broke the silence in announcing the birth of John the Baptist. John then positioned himself outside the Jordan in the desert. There John baptized with water to prepare for the ministry that would introduce the baptism of the promised Holy Spirit.

After Jesus was baptized, John actually moved back across the river into the Promised Land in order to baptize at Aenon. We read that he was there because there was a lot of water (John 3:23). Why does John shift into the Promised Land? Why didn't he baptize at Aenon the entire time? It could be because Jesus' ministry represented the believers gaining access to a new place of promise – the Kingdom of God. Only Jesus could bring this. Once Jesus' ministry began, John stepped into the new promised land Jesus came to offer.

When I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I take the first step into the promised land God has for us today. I cross over the Jordan River in baptism, as the Israelites did when they entered, and as Moses did when he took the people through the Red Sea, which Paul compared to Baptism (1 Corinthians 10:1-2).

Pentecost clearly brought a shift in what believers had access to, and John's movement and ministry are used to explain and highlight that shift. If we are ever going to live out the fullness of our identity, we have to understand the importance of the baptism of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

How Can We Be Baptized in the Spirit?

Living in the Promised Land and occupying it are two different things. In order to fully occupy what God has given us, we need the promised Holy Spirit. The Israelites did not immediately occupy the Promised Land. They advanced "little by little" (Deuteronomy 7:22). So it is with the baptism of the Spirit. We'll see in this section how this is a progressive work.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit is often interchangeably referred to as being filled with the Spirit. This should happen on a continuous basis. We tend to think of being baptized as a singular event, but this is not the case when it comes to the Holy Spirit. The same disciples that were filled with the Spirit on Pentecost in Acts 2 were filled again two chapters later in Acts 4:31. Jesus tells us, "how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:13). This is an invitation to an unlimited supply of the Spirit of God. The way to receive this baptism is to ask again and again.

If we want to be filled with more of God, then we need to be ready to be emptied of more of ourselves. I cannot fill a glass with water if it is already full of Coke. The more Coke I pour out, the more water I can put in. The more we empty ourselves, the more God will pour out His

Spirit in our lives. If I am asking God to fill me with his Spirit, then I need to be willing to be emptied of myself. Otherwise, I am trying to have both, and all I will be left with is some lukewarm concoction of coke and water that tastes like neither.

I think what prevents most people from receiving this baptism is their pride and dignity. They want to be in control. Until pride is emptied, they cannot be filled. Whenever the Spirit came in the book of Acts, unusual things happened. Paul fell off his horse, people spoke in tongues, the disciples were accused of acting in a drunken manner, and people prophesied. If we want to be truly filled, we must be willing to set aside our preconceived notions and resistances, and we need to die to the way others will perceive us. The Lord is already pouring out His Spirit; the more we'll die in this area, the more He'll fill us!

Roles of the Holy Spirit

The following is a list of roles the Holy Spirit plays in our lives. I'm including them below so we can gain an appreciation for His importance. We simply cannot function as we were meant to without Him. While this can feel overwhelming, it is meant to invite you into a relationship with the Holy Spirit, and for you to allow the Holy Spirit to begin to do these things in your life. This is the "milk and honey" God has provided for us as New Testament believers.

  1. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, and makes Jesus known (John 16:7-10;John 15:26; 16:14).
  2. Holy Spirit leads us into all truth (John 16:13; John 14:16, 26; 1 John 2:27;Hebrews 8:10-11; 1 Corinthians 2:13-16). 
  3. He is Comforter and Counselor (John 14:16, 26; John 15:26, 16:7).
  4. He guides and leads us in our decision making process (Mathew 4:1; Acts 8: 29, 13:2, 16:6-10, 20:22-23).
  5. The Holy Spirit is our source of power (Luke 4:14; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:11; Ephesians 2:18-19).
  6. The Holy Spirit gives us our authority (1 John 4:4).
  7. The Spirit produces fruit in our lives (Galatians 5:22-23).
  8. The Spirit anoints us for ministry (Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38).
  9. The Spirit Reveals to the world of what is yet to come (John 16:13;1 Corinthians 2:10).
  10. The Spirit speaks to, in and through us (1 Cor. 12:3; 1 Tim. 4:1; Rev. 2:11; Heb. 3:7; Matt. 10:20; Acts 2:4; 8:29; 10:19; 11:12, 28; 13:2; 16:6,7; 21:4,11).
  11. The Spirit distributes spiritual gifts and manifestations (1 Corinthians 12:4-11).
  12. We can be "in the Spirit"(Revelation 1:10).
  13. We're to pray in the Spirit (Jude 1:20; Ephesians 6:18),
  14. The Spirit brings liberty (2 Cor. 3:17).

This list is not exhaustive. It requires a lifetime to plumb the depths of what it means that God has given us His spirit. This list serves merely as invitation to begin to explore the Promised Land that has been given to us through the promised Holy Spirit. As with the Israelites, we won't occupy everything in a day, but over time we will begin to dwell in these promises and see them become realities!

* * *

 This line may sound strange coming from Jesus, but Jesus actually removes himself from the equation by qualifying His statement with the phrase "among those born of women." While Jesus was birthed by Mary, he actually preceded her and always existed. Furthermore, Jesus was not Mary's biological son any more than He was Joseph's. Interestingly, both instances in the Bible where Jesus addresses Mary directly, he calls her "woman" instead of "mother" (John 2:1-4 & John 19:26-27).
Discussion Questions

  1. Did you know that Jesus' disciples were baptized or filled with the Spirit on multiple occasions? What does this mean for you personally? 
  2. Is there anything in your life that might be hindering God from filling you with His Spirit, such as pride, selfishness or unforgiveness. 
  3. Would you be OK with something unusual taking place in your life as a result of God's presence?
  4. Look through the list of roles the Holy Spirit plays at the end of the chapter. Highlight the areas that you feel like God is drawing your attention to, and begin to pray for God to increase that in your life.
  5. Would you like to open your own life for the Holy Spirit to indwell you in power and authority? You can begin by praying and asking God for His Spirit now (Luke 11:13)

Part V

Position: What Do We Have Access To?
Chapter 16

Position Determines Our Perspective

In the second section of this book we dealt with perspective. If we are going to continue to grow in a godly perspective, we have to understand that our position is what determines our perspective. I recently saw a meme on Facebook where two people saw a number and came to different conclusions about what number they were seeing. One person saw a "6" while the other saw a "9." One was positioned on top of the number looking down, and the other was positioned below the number looking up. When we are looking down on a situation from a heavenly perspective, it will always appear different than when we are looking up from an earthly perspective. God puts it this way:"My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9). In other words, God is saying that the difference between heaven and earth represents a difference in perspective. This section is meant to show us that we are meant to think from heaven towards earth.

Have you ever been on an airplane on an overcast or rainy day? The weather outside the big airport windows is dreary and depressing. Then you get on the plane and it begins to ascend. For a while, all you see is grey mist and rain. Then the plane breaks through the clouds and you see the sun and a beautiful clear sky. What happened? Your position changed. In one position you were looking up at rain clouds, while in the other you were looking down on them. This may be obvious, but the sun is always shining. We just don't always see it. We cannot allow overcast days to undermine the reality that the sun is still shining. If we start allowing the overcast situations in our lives to affect the way we think, we are succumbing to an inferior reality. As believers, we are not to live by what we see. We are to live by faith.

Jesus tells John in the book of Revelation: "'Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.' At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it" (4:1). This passage indicates two important things. Believers are called to "come up here" in order to see, and this takes place through the Spirit. When I pray, and the presence of God is tangible I will often sense that I am in a high place. I feel elevated or "high." I think part of the reason drugs have such an appeal is because they counterfeit a very real spiritual reality. We are meant to find ourselves in the high tower of His presence. It is only there that we can clearly see what is going on. Prayer positions us in His presence in order to give perspective.

Heavenly Places

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:2-3 that he knew a man who was caught up to the third heaven and was taken to paradise where he heard inexpressible things. This indicates that there are three different heavenly realms we need to be aware of. The first heaven is the firmament and earth's atmosphere, which includes the sky (Genesis 2:19; 7:3,23; Psalms 8:8). The second heaven is outer space (Deuteronomy 17:3; Jeremiah 8:2; Matthew 24:29), and the third heaven is where God dwells (Deuteronomy 10:14; 1 Kings 8:27; Psalms 115:16; 148:4). The fact that there are three heavens matters a lot because we are born in one reality, but then we are born again into a different one.

The book of Ephesians deals with the topic of heavenly realms perhaps more than any other part of the Bible. For example, there are five times that the phrase "heavenly realms" is used in Ephesians (1:3, 1:20, 2:6, 3:10, 6:12). What Ephesians teaches us about our position is critical. In fact, it could be one of the last revelations that God will give His church before He returns. Throughout Christian history, various truths have been restored to the body of Christ. The Protestant Reformation restored salvation by faith, Baptists restored the concept of water baptism, Pentecostals restored the understanding of the baptism of the Spirit, and so on. I think that understanding the book of Ephesians could well be the final restoration of God's truth to the church.

The book of Ephesians is unique because it was a letter written to a thriving church. It was what you give a group of people who already have everything. Paul gives no correction in this letter, only encouragement, and of the seven churches in Revelation this church is given the lightest rebuke. I think Paul was blessing this mature church with a very important revelation. As we mature in our relationship with God, this message will become more and more important to us. This is why this section is near the end of the book. This is something we need to grow into. Let's look at each of Paul's references to the "heavenly realms" to get some insight into our current position as believers.

1) Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).

This is Paul's opening statement to the church at Ephesus, and it is loaded. We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing, and these blessings are located in Christ in the heavenly realms. We'll later see that Jesus is currently in the third heaven. I think we would do well just to meditate on this verse and ask God exactly what He means here. It is with this statement that Paul sets the tone for the rest of the book to follow.

2) I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be the head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. (Ephesians1:18-23)

First, we see that Jesus was raised by the power of God and seated at God's right hand in the heavenly realms, which is the third heaven. Also the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is living in us. It takes spiritually open eyes to see and understand this, which is why Paul prays for the eyes of our hearts to be enlightened to this understanding.

Jesus is in the third heaven where He is the head and where everything is under his feet. All rulers, authorities, powers and dominions are under his feet. This is amazing, but it gets even more remarkable. There are three body parts mentioned here: the head, the feet and the body. God says that the church is the body. Now if we're the body, then we are positioned with Jesus in the third heaven. Furthermore, if everything is under Jesus' feet, then it is also under our feet. This is profound. We are positioned with God, and all things are actually underneath us. If you are finding this hard to believe, just remember the sun shining on a cloudy day. An overcast day does not mean the sun stopped shining. Our temporary circumstances cannot alter this reality, in spite of what we may see at the moment.

3) And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:6)

Paul takes it a step further and clarifies that we have indeed been raised with Christ. We are currently positioned in heaven. Many of us are waiting to die and go to heaven or to be raptured, but we fail to see that we've already been raised. We are currently seated with Christ. This is why when someone died in the New Testament, the believers said the person fell asleep. They would not say the person had died, because they had already died at water baptism and were raised with Jesus in that moment. They simply fell asleep and wake up somewhere else. Think about it: you cannot say someone falls asleep when they die unless they are already positioned somewhere else. Of course, our body will fail us and perish, but our spirit is eternal and it is already somewhere else. The New Testament writers understood this, so they stopped using the word death. I know this is hard to wrap our mind around, but think of it like this: we are physically positioned on earth, and we are spiritually positioned in heaven. We'll unpack this more in the next chapter.

4) His [God's] intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities of the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 3:10)

In this verse, the rulers and authorities are demonic forces in the second heaven, which are under our feet. Because we are the body of Christ, we actually reflect God's multi-faceted wisdom. Just as a diamond reflects light through various faces and angles, so we each reveal the various aspects of God's wisdom. And we do so from heaven to earth. This is why we are able to pray "on earth as it is in heaven."

I love different churches, different expressions of worship and different gifts, because I can see in them various manifestations of God. It should not intimidate to see God work in a way that is different than what we are used to. We should celebrate this God of ours who is so multi-faceted and who shines through each of us in various ways. For too long church has been a competition between body parts and not a celebration of the different parts functioning as God has ordained them to.

5) For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)

This verse may be the most commonly referred to passage of Scripture when it comes to spiritual warfare. It says that we are fighting something we cannot see that exists in heavenly realms. This would sound pretty scary if Paul hadn't told us earlier that all these things were already under our feet, and that we display God's manifold wisdom to them. Because we are currently positioned next to Christ in heaven, we are able to overcome these forces by simply standing firm. Four times, Paul writes that we should stand firm in Ephesians 6:11-14. The greatest act of spiritual warfare I can do is simply to stand in His truth and my identity and current position in Christ. I don't have to go wild trying to fight the devil in my own ability. I just need to stand firm believing what God says about me and to me. As we'll see in the next chapter, the way we think will determine whether or not we are able to stand firm and be victorious.

* * *

 http://www.letusreason.org/Biblexp130.htm.
Discussion Questions

  1. Spend some time meditating on the statement: Prayer positions us in His presence in order to give perspective. What is significant to you about this statement?
  2. Consider times where prayer gave a peace to you or a perspective that you did not have before. 
  3. What things can you do to live from your position in heavenly realms?

Chapter 17

Fix Our Thoughts on Things Above

It may be a lot to understand that we are already seated in heaven. This is something we need to accept by faith. The problem comes whenever our physical reality conflicts with a spiritual reality, such as it's raining but the sun is also shining. We have to learn to think from above, not below. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul confirms his message to the Ephesians and gives instructions on how to live this out: "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on earthy things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:1-3).

Notice that we have already been raised with Christ. This confirms the theme in the book of Ephesians. We also see that we have already died, and we are currently "hidden with Christ." This is a spiritual truth about a positional truth. This is why full-submersion baptism is so important. We are put under the water to represent a dying to the old self, and we are pulled out of the water to represent our spiritual resurrection with Christ (see Colossians 2:12 and Romans 6:3-4).

Paul gives us important instructions that are a result of our spiritual position. He instructs us to set our hearts and thoughts on things above, not on earthly things. If we think earthly thoughts, then our thinking will undermine our spiritual positioning. Let me give an example. What if the people close to me told me that I should not write Christian books? What if they said there are others who were better at this than I am? Meanwhile in prayer, God put it on my heart to write, and gave me things He wanted me to write about. In this case, there is a heavenly reality and an earthly reality. Listening to earthly things will not nullify what God said, but it could cause me not to act on His word or promises. Wherever this happens, my effectiveness is sabotaged, and I become unable to display God's manifold wisdom. Furthermore, my compromise means that earth looks less like heaven.

The Devil Is the King of the Air

Before he died, Jesus prayed a very interesting prayer: "I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it" (John 17:14-16).Jesus is commenting on the paradox of our position. In the same passage that He said we are not of this world, He asked God to protect us while we are here. In essence, He is saying that we are not of this world, but we are in the world. As such, we are still vulnerable to the evil one. We saw earlier in the book that the enemy gains a foothold through deceptive thoughts, which is why Paul says that our thoughts should be on things above.

Our ability to stand firm and be victorious over the schemes of the enemy is directly determined by the thoughts we meditate on. In Ephesians, Paul wrote that we used to obey the "ways of the world and of the ruler of the kingdom of air" (2:2). The kingdom of the air is the first heaven (earth and its atmosphere) and the devil rules this kingdom. Paul builds on this idea when he refers to the devil as the "god of this age" (2 Corinthians 4:4). The devil has dominion over the earth, which is why he told Jesus that he had been given the authority and splendor of the kingdom of the world (Luke 4:6). Jesus has turned the tables around on the cross, but the enemy still rules the kingdom of air (earth) through people who don't obey God.

The biggest threat to our spiritual positioning is our thought life. Our thoughts can draw us away from heavenly realities and cause us to think in earthy ways. It is for this reason that we are instructed to renew our minds:"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will" (Romans 12:2). We renew our mind by not conforming to the worldly pattern. This shows us the world has adopted certain patterns of thinking. Imagine the following pattern: circle, triangle, square, circle, triangle, _______. If we were to fill in the blank we would do so based on the pattern we saw. Our answer would be square. We have been taught to think of what will happen next based on the pattern we have seen.

There are earthly patterns of thought that we have naturally embraced. In school, for example, we are conditioned to assign value to people based on the grades they receive. Economically, we are taught that supply dictates demand. Relationally, we are taught respect should be earned, and forgiveness should be contingent upon repentance. None of these earthly ways of thinking reflect a heavenly perspective.

We watch the news every night and see bad news. Again, this does not reflect heaven. I wonder how the economic law of supply and demand could ever be reconciled with Ephesians 1:3, the multiplying of the food or the Biblical principles of sowing and reaping. The bottom line is that it cannot. If I do not renew my mind with heavenly perspectives, I'll limit myself to the principals of a cursed world that is being ruled by the devil.

I've heard that eagles can sometimes be found eating at the dump. They probably do this because it is so much easier than hunting from the skies. The problem with this is that the eagles were not made to eat human garbage. The more they compromise their position, the more susceptible they become to illnesses. Feeding off of human garbage is very problematic for animals. National parks put up signs cautioning visitors not to feed the wildlife for this very reason.

Eagles were meant to hunt from the heavens, not dig in the dump. When I feed off of the news of the world or the ways of the world, it is like I am eating garbage. There may be an initial satisfaction, but the long term effects are dangerously destructive. Like eagles, we were not meant to dig around in the trash this world has to offer even if it is as easily accessed as pushing a button on a remote control, or touching the screen of our phone

For this reason, it is critical that we take our thoughts captive. Paul pleads with the Corinthians to change their thinking. He does this by appealing to the fact that they are in the world, but not of the world.

I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some of the people who think that we live by the standard of this world. For though we live in this world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:2-5)

Understanding our position helps us know how to fight and what to fight. The fight is a spiritual one, not a physical one. We would do well to remember this in the midst of conflict. Therefore, the answers are also spiritual. The things that need to be demolished are the arguments and pretensions that set themselves against the knowledge of God. If we are positioned above every argument and every force of evil, then our battle is actually against any thoughts that set themselves against that position and against the ways of God. We can recognize these thoughts by the fruit they bear. Anything that causes hopelessness, fear, anger, anxiety, worry, discontentment, etc., is earthly and from the kingdom of darkness. When we can see bad fruit, we can be sure the enemy has gained a foothold through a wrong thought pattern.

Let's go back to the example about writing this book. If we assume God instructed me to write this book, then the voice that says I'm not good enough or not qualified is actually defying the knowledge of God. It is vying for my agreement. If I agree with it, I am no longer standing firm on God's word. Instead, I am moving out of my position in Christ and putting myself under the pattern of the worldly thought. I'm allowing my physical position in this world to determine my spiritual reality. This is why Paul rebukes the people in this passage who "think that we live by the standard of this world."

In such a case, I need to take that thought captive. This implies a struggle. Taking something captive is not easy, but we would not be instructed to do this if we were not able to do so successfully. We are to make that thought obedient to Christ. This means that the idea that has risen up against the knowledge of God gets cast down below Jesus' feet, and thus, below our feet. In taking it captive and making it obedient to Christ, we are declaring that it is an inferior earthly thought that has no place in our heavenly thinking. Battle won. Technically, all we did was stand on what God said and reject the enemy's lies. In so doing, we demolish strongholds and we display the manifold wisdom of God to all the heavenly realms under our feet.

This type of battle happens every single day. We talked about perspective in section three. I would guess that between the time you read those chapters and now, something might have changed. I bet that in reading those chapters, your spirit came alive in agreement with those realities, but since then earthly ways of thinking have begun to erode those beautiful truths. Any time our perspective and identity as royal sons and daughters who are history making ambassadors of heaven is compromised, it is because we agreed with an earthly pattern that has risen up against the knowledge of God. This is a daily battle. We need to equip ourselves with the truth of what God says by meditating on His promises and His words over our lives.

Steve Backlund shares a powerful testimony in which he asked God to show him all the areas in his life where he was deceived. This is a powerful thing to do! If we can identify areas where the enemy has influenced our thinking through deception, we can renew our minds. From there, we are able to look upon problems from a heavenly perspective rather than a clouded earthly one.

Let's recap a bit. The devil is the ruler of the first heaven or the earth. We are physically on the earth but spiritually in heaven. The devil tries to gain influence through arguments or pretensions that set themselves against the knowledge of God. We have to resist those thoughts that are earthly and bear bad fruit, and we are to renew our minds with God's ways which are much bigger than our ways.

Aliens and Foreigners

Once we realize we are positioned in heavenly places, we come to understand that earth is not our home, nor is it our final destination. We come to realize that we are actually aliens. Now I don't believe in little green men and U.F.O.s. I'm referring to aliens as people who belong to a foreign country. In our case, we are from a different "heaven" or a different "kingdom."

The New Testament writers picked up on this concept and referred to themselves as aliens and foreigners. This does not at all imply that we are inferior or that we have fewer rights on earth. Rather, it means our thinking is not earthly. Peter writes his letter "To God's elect, strangers in the world" and he later exhorts believers by calling them "aliens and strangers in the world" (1 Peter 1:1, 2:11; see also 1:17). If we understand that we are strangers here, then we will not live for earthly gain or pleasures. C.S. Lewis puts it like this:"If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this." If we are going to impact earth the way we are meant to, then our thinking has to be grounded in an eternal and heavenly perspective. Wherever we fail to do this, we are building a house of cards that will fall.

* * *

 C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, publication info, p.
Discussion Questions

  1. In a world inundated with bad news, what are some ways that you can "renew your mind" with heaven's perspective?
  2. Are there any areas in your life where you can see that the fruit of the Spirit is missing. Can you identify anger, impatience, bitterness, feelings of inadequacy or any other bad fruit? Spend some time asking the Lord to reveal to you where you've believed a deception and repent for thinking that way. Ask God to replace the deceptive thoughts with His truth.
  3. How does viewing yourself as a foreigner on earth and living for eternity impact your decision making?

Part VI

Protecting Your Identity
Chapter 18

Not Every Thought Is Yours

As we have seen, one of the greatest ways that the enemy attacks our identity is through our thought life. This is why we are told to take every thought captive, making it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). This language tells us there is a battle going on in our thoughts. I don't think we resist thoughts as much as we should. Part of the reason for this is that we can mistakenly think that the wrong thought came from within us. This is not always the case. Sometimes we are tempted in a way that comes from the enemy.

Let me give an example. I once had a lustful dream about a person I knew personally. To make the matter worse, I was married when it happened and my wife was friends with the person I dreamed about. I woke up feeling terrible. Then it occurred to me that I had NEVER had a lustful thought about that person. Furthermore, I was not even slightly attracted to her. I began to realize something. The thoughts in that dream did not come from me. They came from an enemy. Realizing that the dream did not in any way originate from within me was liberating. If we cannot discern what comes from us and what comes from the outside, the enemy will constantly sabotage our identity with his thoughts. Recognizing that some thoughts are actually an attack is a key to protecting who we are in God.

We have to understand that sin occurs when we act on the temptation. Eve's sin was not that she heard the voice of the enemy. It was that she did what that voice told her to do.

Being tempted does not mean that we have done anything wrong. If being tempted was the same as sinning, then Jesus would be a sinner like the rest of us. Hebrews 4:15 states:"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin." Notice that even though Jesus was tempted as we are, he remained sinless. Part of Jesus' temptation in the desert was that He heard the devil speak directly to him three times. I want us to see something here. The devil may speak to us but it does not mean we are what he says we are. It does not even mean we have sinned. It just means we are tempted. What we do with that moment will determine whether we move in to sin or not. James explains it like this: "each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown, gives birth to death" (1:14-15). Sin occurs when we act on the temptation.

Acting on sin can occur in our thought life. Jesus makes this clear in Matthew 5:28. I can be tempted to lust, and resist that, or I can allow my thoughts to take to me to a place in my mind that I should not go. When I do this, Jesus is making it clear that I have sinned.

The problem many of us have is that we have a tempting thought and we think it somehow defines us. To use the previous example, let's say that I am tempted with a lustful thought. It can be easy to immediately conclude that I am a lustful person or that I have a spirit of lust. Meanwhile, it was only a temptation. If the enemy can begin to define us through such thoughts, we will fail to live out our full identity.

I want to share a testimony that was revelational for me in this regard. I was praying for one of my students during a ministry time in South Africa. This young man was desperately hungry for more of God. As I was praying, I felt a voice in my head say, "You don't have what it takes to take this person where he wants to go." My first response was to agree with the thought. I'd had a particularly rough morning that day. I cannot remember exactly what went wrong, but I suspect I had a problem at home and had probably acted like a jerk to my wife. So, when I heard this voice tell me I did not have what it took, I could only agree with it. In the moment, it felt true.

As I stood there praying, another thought came to me: "This is not the voice of your Father." That thought was much MORE true than the first one. The first thought felt true because of what I was going through, but I knew in my heart that my Father would not say that about me. I knew that God would not tell me I did not have what it took. That is not His nature or His character.

Next, I began to wonder where the thought came from which said that I did not have what it took. I immediately realized that it did not come from me, and it did not come from my Father. I felt the Spirit say to me that this was what the young man believed about himself. I then prayed with that in mind. I prayed along these lines: "I take authority over any feelings of rejection and insecurity and I declare that you do have what it takes. I rebuke any feelings that make you think you don't have what it takes, and I release the truth of God's word over you..."

As soon as I prayed in this manner, this young man fell to the ground under the power of God. In that moment, I believe God radically dealt with a lie that had been holding him captive.

It's critical that we see spiritually what was going on in this exchange. This young man had feelings of insecurity and rejection. When I began to pray for him, the spirit that was influencing him tried to influence me. I almost began to believe that the spirit that was attacking my identity was actually in me. There is a huge difference. One approach recognizes the attack is from a foreign invader, the other believes it is part of their identity. Remember that what we believe about ourselves is what we become. Had I believed I did not have what it took to minister to this young man, I would have been shut down, and I would not have ministered to him effectively. My belief would have become my reality. We need to begin to recognize the origin of the thoughts we are having.

In a class I once taught, I began to be tempted lustfully regarding a student in the class. This was the first time such a thought had come to me like that, and I resisted the temptation to go down that road. As I did so, I wondered in my heart if this student had a lust issue going on. I immediately dismissed it because of what I knew about this student. It seemed unlikely to believe there was such a problem. Later that day, the principal brought a concern to my attention involving two students regarding a rumored sexually immoral situation. To my surprise, one of the students was the very one whom I had questioned in my spirit regarding lust.

We must not assume that every evil thought we have comes from another person. This is not true. However, it can be true and being open to the possibility will allow us to minister life to that person, while not accepting the thought as something that defines us.

Think about it like this: sinful thoughts act like a contagious disease. We know that germs are everywhere, and that sick people have germs that can make us sick. In order to avoid getting their sickness, we need to take certain precautions. We wash our hands and we limit our exposure to that person. The spirit realm operates in the same way. The answer is to wash ourselves in God's word and in what He says to us and about us. Jesus told His followers that they were clean because of the word he spoke to them (John 15:3). We need to be cleansing ourselves with God's truth to prevent contagious thoughts from infecting us.

As mentioned already, one of the key ways the enemy gains access to our life is through agreement. Notice what the devil tells Jesus when he tempts Him: "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to" (Luke 4:6). The devil received dominion because Adam and Eve gave it to him. Jesus took back that authority on our behalf, but we can still give the devil influence in our life through agreement. Learning to take thoughts captive means we need to recognize that some thoughts come from a foreign attacker. They need to be rejected as such.

Our thoughts originate from three sources: ourselves, God, or the devil. There are some easy ways to discern what is from the devil. We can judge a tree by its fruit. Any thoughts that leave us feeling hopeless, inadequate, rejected, fearful, lustful, anxious, unloved, forgotten, greedy, angered, etc. are not from our Father. God would never speak to us and call us a "loser." Think about it like this: would you ever tell your son or daughter that he/she is not good enough. If we would not say it to our children, then we can be certain that our Father in heaven would not say it to us.

When we begin to identify bad fruit in our lives, it is likely we have agreed in some measure with a demonic spirit. Did you know that the Bible teaches us that fear is a "spirit" as is heaviness or depression? Paul writes to Timothy and explains to him that God has not given him a spirit of fear, but rather one of love, power and self-control (1 Timothy 1:7 ESV). Furthermore, we are instructed in Isaiah to put on a garment of praise for a spirit of despair (61:3). Whenever we are experiencing fear or despair, it is probably because we have listened to thoughts from a demonic spirit and are now allowing them to influence us.

We have a spiritual radar that picks up things from other sources. Our role is to discern the source, and to ask the Father what we should do. I'll never forget the night when I had my most vivid demonic dream. I was scared in the dream but I also dealt with the situation. The next morning my school principal, who lived next door, explained to me that she also could not sleep the previous night. That got my attention. It turned out that she had really bad dreams too. When we compared notes, we realized something was not right. Then she remembered she had a guest in her house that night with a fear issue. She explained to me that this lady was so afraid that she could not go to the bathroom at night by herself. She even had to sleep with the lights on. She was plagued by fear.

What was happening? Well, the spirit of fear tormenting this woman was now trying to gain a foothold in our lives. It was roaming around the property trying to influence us. We recognized the attack and were able to take those thoughts captive and pray against them. This would have never happened had we both assumed that we somehow had done something wrong and "deserved" this. Let's be careful not to allow every thought we think to define us. We need to be asking the questions: Is this something from my Father? Is this a result of something I have done? If the answer to those questions is negative, then we need to resist it, identify the source and take it captive.
Discussion Questions

  1. Consider the following statements:

"I deserve this to happen to me."

"I am not good enough."

"It will always be this way. Things will never change."

"That person does not deserve my forgiveness."

"My life does not matter as much as other Christians."

Do any of these apply? If so, ask yourself where this thought originated, and pray and ask God to speak truth to your heart.

  2. Have you ever had a bad dream or thought and wrongly assumed that this is who you were? Again, pray and ask God to reveal His truth.

Chapter 19

Part of the Body

One of the biggest things holding us back from shining is that we compare ourselves to others. Too often we look at other people's callings and feel inferior. We need to understand that we were never meant to do what others have done. There was only one Moses. God does not need another one. What He needs now is you and me to do what He's called us to do. When we stand before Him, He's not going to ask me if I was a good Moses. He's going to ask me if I was a good Andrew Mullek.

God's plan for each of us is unique and fashioned specifically for us. It's like a tailor made suit that fits us perfectly. I'm convinced, as Bill Johnson says, that if we could see our full purpose in His eyes we would not want to be anyone other than who we already are. If God showed us our purpose, alongside of other people's, we would not want to trade.

Comparison is a destiny destroyer that is rooted in our inability to appreciate the unique calling God has on our life. We're a critical part of the tapestry God is weaving throughout history, and it's time we stop looking at other colors and patterns and start seeing the beautifully significant role that we play.

We need to understand that we are all members of a body. Paul puts it like this:

Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be a part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts of the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts but one body (1 Corinthians 12:14-20).

Realizing that we are not all meant to do the same thing frees us to be able to do what God has called us to do. Each person's calling is different, just as each member of the body is different. When we consider our body, we realize there are tremendously unique parts, and if we had to be honest we would not want to go without any single one.

We can sometimes make the mistake of wrongly assigning value to certain parts and failing to see the necessity of others. If I asked you which part of your body was absolutely necessary, my guess is that most people would immediately say the brain or the heart. While it's true that these are vital, I don't know many people who would like to go without skin, bones, blood, stomach, colon, lungs, etc.

Even seemingly insignificant parts play a major role as a member of the body. Did you know that our nose hairs are vital to our health? They act as filters and prevent us from getting sick. Few people even consider the value that their nose hair provides, but they would miss them greatly if they were not there. My friend Len Winneroski is a scientist and writer who picked up on this concept when he blogged about the importance of our armpit hair in order to make this point. We've been taught ridiculous ideas about having remaining body hair because we are descended from monkeys. Along the way, no one bothered to mention how critical armpit hair actually is, and that God designed us intentionally as we are.

In order for the body of Christ to be healthy, each person needs to do their part, even the nose hairs. We each have something to offer. It's just that every person's gift looks very different. One of my favorite verses is 1 Corinthians 14:26:"What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation." Did you notice that word "everyone" in there? That includes you. What this means is that we all have something to offer as part of God's church.

I was talking to a friend last night who is very disillusioned with church, and, as a result, has stopped attending for a season. I challenged him saying that he is gifted to do the very thing that he wants to see in the church, and the answer to the problem he saw is residing in himself. He was the answer to the problem he saw.

God wants us all participating. Church is not a spectator sport. We're all meant to be involved. Too often, we figure that if we aren't preaching in a pulpit, then our gift really does not matter. In baseball, the slowest fielder tends to end up in right field. Can you imagine how much it would hurt the team if the right fielder just sat down and decided that his role really was not important because he was not as agile as the shortstop? The point is that we all need to be involved as members of God's body. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer (1 Corinthians 12:26).

In order to shift our thinking to a more Biblical approach, two things need to change. First of all, churches need to provide platforms for people to share their giftings. This means that leaders need to build around people and not just around themselves. No one would use just a hammer to build a house, but this is exactly what church leaders do when their church is a one man show. We see the flaw in this building design when the leader moves on or is no longer able to lead and the ministry crumbles. Secondly, people need to understand that they are a critical part of the body. It is so refreshing that the Bible includes things like hospitality, generosity, helping others, leadership and administration as spiritual gifts in the same passages that talk about teaching, healing and prophesying (1 Corinthians 12:28; Romans 12:6-8). Being hospitable is a gift God has given the church. So is serving! If that is a gift you carry, but don't share with the church, then the body of Christ is missing out. We can get intimidated by the more mysterious gifts and fail to function in the practical gift God has given.

If you can't find a church that provides an opportunity for you to be an active part of the body, then find one that does! Much of our growth comes when we serve and operate in our gifts. Maybe you're a number-crunching math whiz. If so, offer to help with the finances. Offer to help members of your church with financial courses. Offer some debt counseling. There are people drowning in debt who need you!

This principle was so important to me that it became the number one thing I looked for in a church. I wanted to be in an environment where my gifts could be used. When I came home on a furlough from South Africa, I got connected to a small church in my hometown. This church was lacking some things I would have liked to see in a church, but they always gave me a chance to preach, to speak to youth, to encourage or to provide input on administrative matters. These were all things I did in South Africa. I found a place to serve with gifts I carried. As a result, I kept coming back to that church to visit, and God ultimately called me to move back to the U.S. to lead that church.

Let's stop trying to determine which gift is the best, and be who God made us to be. The devil has effectively robbed us of our identity by getting us to compare ourselves to the people around us. The problem with comparing ourselves is that if we judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will always be a failure. Our education system has done a disservice in this respect. We've learned at a young age to rank ourselves based on our ability to do multiplication and other academic tasks. Grades get assigned, and thus, we've taught children to consider their value or identity based on arbitrary guidelines. We need to start to teach children that they were uniquely made with unique gifts. Little Johnny needs to know that his 70% in Math does not define him. He needs to be able to discover the gifts he carries. When God looks at each of us, He is not comparing the talents He gave you with the talents He gave me. He's asking whether we're faithful with what we've been given. This is one of the points Jesus was trying to make in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30). When we bury our talent, we are taking the light within us and putting it under a basket. The end result is that we are not shining. I love the cover image of this book because it represents the corporate creativity that happens when each of us shines as God has intended.

We should never conclude that our gift is not honorable or important. Paul addresses this when he says, "those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment" (1 Corinthians 12:22-24). If the enemy is able to get us to believe we are not "presentable" or we are "less honorable" and we stop there, then he can shut us down. We are not able to walk in our identity. We'll believe we're just always meant to be a chicken. We deserve worms and grubs, because we're just a "one talent person" (see Matthew 25:14-30). Let me share a little secret: one small talent surrendered to God can change the world. John Bevere made this point so well in a sermon he preached at Bethel Church entitled "Steward Your Life For Eternity." This is one of the best messages I have ever heard. Do yourself a favor. Take a break from this book and listen to that message!

When David was getting ready to fight Goliath, an interesting exchange takes place between him and King Saul. Saul graciously offered David his armor. This was quite a gesture. David was going to be given the opportunity to use the king's weapons, which would have been the best in the country. This may not be saying much, as there was a time when there were only two swords in Israel. Still, David was about to get a sword. After putting on Saul's armor, David did a profound thing. He took it off and told the king that it did not fit him! David then went out to the battlefield dressed as a shepherd with a sling and a stone. The point here is simple: God wants to use you as you are. He does not need you to dress up like someone else or do things like another person. He needs you to be you. Don't let the devil convince you that you don't have what it takes. David killed a giant with a stone. In my first book, He Used A Stone, my subtitle was, "If God Can Use a Stone, He Can Use You."

Each of us is part of the body of the Christ. We each have a role to play. As we discover our identity and our giftings and live those out in faith, we will see God's people thrive. Church is not a one man show. It is a team sport and everyone has a position to play!

* * *

 https://mannaandcoffee.com/2010/04/16/eyes-ears-and-armpits/
Discussion Questions

  1. What giftings has God given you? If this is a hard question for you then consider what things you are passionate about. What do you like to do? What burns in your heart? Often our passions highlight our gifts! 
  2. Is there something that you can do to "shine" more in the gifts that you have been given?
  3. If you've ever believed that your gifts are not as significant as others, spend some time before the Lord asking Him to forgive this wrong thinking and to show you how He sees you.

Chapter 20

Unequal Yokes

Bad company corrupts good character. This popular saying   
actually comes from Scripture (1 Corinthians 15:33). One of the most important ways we protect our identity is by guarding whom we allow to influence us.   
Have you ever noticed that you begin to use the same expressions as the people around you? We pick up each other's mannerisms, sayings and even behaviors. I've recently befriended a group of guys who are part of a Christian band. Two of the members have been friends for years, and they often use the same phrases. The more time I spend around them, the more I begin to sound like them.

Similarly, my best friend in high school used to always greet me with, "Hey Buddy." At first this seemed odd, then I got used to it and then I began to use it myself. Now I will go so far as to greet people in a professional setting with "Hey Buddy." Initially they are caught off guard, like I was. Now they will use the same greeting when they see me. They never would have done that before they knew me. It was way too casual. Yet, they've begun to adopt it and even to own it for themselves. My point is simple: we are influenced by those with whom we spend time.

Realizing that we are influenced like this will help us tremendously with protecting our identity in Christ. By surrounding ourselves with like-minded believers, we are constantly reaffirming what God says about us. The converse is also true. Where we surround ourselves with people who don't share our convictions, we will slowly become more like them. This is why the Bible instructs us to fellowship together (Hebrews 10:25). There are many reasons for this command, but one of them is because we need to keep good company. We may know in our heart that we are cherished by God, but if we allow ourselves to be influenced by those who do not believe this, our identity will be constantly sabotaged.

I can tell a lot about people by the company they keep. I knew a young man in South Africa who began to hang out with the wrong crowd when he got to high school. I had known him through most of his elementary school career. He was a very smart and well-behaved boy, and he was a leader in his class. When he got to high school, he decided he wanted to hang out with a different crowd. When it was rumored that he had started smoking, I suspected the rumor to be true just because of the company he kept. I confronted him about this issue, and he denied it emphatically. I told him I did not believe him because of the friends he had. Of course, he feigned offense. Sure enough, a few days later, he was caught with a pack of cigarettes in his backpack. Smoking is not really the issue here. I'm trying to make the point that the people around us influence us. If we want to protect our identity, a good starting point is to surround ourselves with those who know who they are in God and who live it out.

I'll never forget one holiday in South Africa when a missionary friend asked if I'd keep her two dogs over the school break. I was happy to help and I felt like her dogs would keep my dog company. I lived next door to my best friend, and our dogs had also become best friends. I figured that her two dogs and our two dogs would get along well. As it turned out they actually enjoyed each other too much.

I've observed how boys will do mischievous things with friends that they would never even think of doing alone. This is what happened with our dogs. In short, they went missing. Well, three of them went missing: Sarah's golden retriever, my dog and David's dog. Normally, our two dogs only played on the school property. Well, when Sarah's dog was added to the mix, the dogs went crazy and ran away. I knew something was wrong when my dog Toby did not come for lunch when I called. He never missed a meal. Sarah's dog, Henry, came home that afternoon. David's dog, Pablo, and Toby were still missing through the night. In the morning, Pablo had returned but Toby was still gone. David and I scoured the area the next day looking for him. In the distant mountains, I heard a yelp, and my heart leapt with hope. David told me it could not be Toby. It was too far away. I was determined to take any lead. I nearly wrecked by car driving on mountain paths, not meant for sedans, but miles into the mountainous woods, we found Toby stuck in a snare.

I learned two things from this situation. First of all, had Toby not called out for help, he would have died in his snare. Some dogs keep quiet and it is impossible for them to saved. If you have been stuck in a situation, call out for help. Keeping quiet is not the answer. Secondly, Toby and Pablo would have never gone off in the mountains if they weren't influenced. The company we keep will affect our behavior.

One of the better known verses on this topic is the instruction, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers" (2 Corinthians 6:14). A yoke is a wooden harness that links two cattle together in order to plow a field or to pull something. If one animal is a lot weaker than the other, the strong animal will not be able to perform its task. They will not be able to make a straight line, or one animal will over-burdened.

I've had this happen to me personally. David once invited me to a festival where one of the traditions was to have a "kaskar" race. This is Afrikaans for a push car race around a designated track. The car was designed like a go-kart, but without an engine. Teams consisted of several sets of "pushers" and a driver. The event operated like a relay race. Two teammates would push the car for a portion of the track and then "hand off" the car to two more teammates. Teams had to complete several laps. I think everyone ended pushing about five or six times.

David had been invited to the event by some of his friends from a different church. Since we were together and knew each other, we ended up being "yoked" to the kaskar together. I did not realize it at the time, but this was a mistake. My friend was twenty years older than me, and I had been training for ultra-marathons. Meanwhile, he was not really in running shape.

To say that I can be competitive at times would be an understatement. As a result, when it was our turn, I ran and pushed with all I had. I wanted to win. After the first leg of the event, I was sucking wind. This was strange for me because I was used to running for hours. I knew I was exerting more effort, but I could not understand why it was affecting me so much. Forty seconds of running seemed SO much harder than two hours of jogging. I caught my breath and ran the second leg. Each consecutive leg got worse and worse. Before the race was over, the event had become torture for me. I was just praying for it to end.

When it finally did end, I felt that my heart was going to explode. I could hardly stand up. I literally collapsed next to the closest tree I could find. My face was pale, and I was just trying to catch my breath. Our friends came to check on me and there were a few worried looks. David was visibly concerned. I began to explain to him that I did not know what happened, but I felt like I could not breathe.

At that point, he confessed to me that he thought the problem was that he was not pushing the car. Immediately, my competitive nature went into accusation mode: "You weren't pushing!?!" He explained to me that I was running so fast and pushing so hard that the best he could do was try and keep up with me. He was giving it all he had just to stay with me. In his effort to hold on to the car, he might have even been slowing it down. It all made sense to me. I was doing all the work in a race where two people were meant to work together. David and I were yoked together but we were mismatched. The end result was that my strength was compromised. I was an ultra-marathon runner who had been reduced to a panting heap under a tree after a few short laps. This is what happens when we are unequally yoked.

We fall in to a terrible deception when we believe we can marry or go into business with unbelievers, with the hopes of ultimately helping or changing them. It usually does not work that way. We risk nullifying our calling and identity because we partnered with someone who not only does not share our values, but who is actually actively pulling us back and resisting the work of God in our life.

A friend of mine was recently going through a divorce. My friend's spouse was not serving God. Once this person was removed from their spouse, they became alive for God in a way I had never seen. This friend was ministering to others on a daily basis. At one point, the divorce ceased and they got back together. As soon as that happened, I no longer saw this person ministering in the way they were before.

Let me share one more story about an amazing young lady I had the privilege to disciple and lead to Christ. Her background was a challenging one, but God brought her to Himself in a miraculous way. Soon after, a friend of hers wanted to enter a relationship with her. He even started coming to church with her. One of the older women in our church thought that was special. She pointed out to me how much it meant that her boyfriend attended church with her. I replied that his attending with her didn't mean anything to me. On the other hand, it would be significant for me if I saw him come on a day when she couldn't make it. I knew it was in her heart to be in church, but I could not say the same for her boyfriend. The real test for me was whether he desired God enough to pursue Him individually. Only then would I know if this was an equal yoke.

People can easily pretend in order to get what they want. It happens all the time in relationships. The first girl that was interested in me after I got saved was an Indian girl. She was not a practicing Christian, but she said she wanted to live for God. The relationship was short- lived because I realized she wanted a relationship with me and would say whatever it took to achieve that end. I am so glad I did not pursue that relationship or several others that followed. I later learned that the Indian girl had a major lust problem and was involved in sexual relationships with young students to fulfill that need. She was telling me what I wanted to hear in the hopes of being physical with me. I cannot urge single people enough (particularly young ladies) to make sure that any person you are thinking of getting involved with is passionate for God.

Also, it is absolutely imperative that you know who you are in God before you get into a relationship with someone else. If you do not have a sense of identity and purpose and you are not satisfied within your relationship with the Father, you will begin to find your identity in your spouse. This is a particularly dangerous trap. The only way we can avoid it is to know who we are in God, and to yoke ourselves with someone else who knows who they are independent of you. We have no business pursuing marriage until we're content in our relationship with God. I strongly caution all single people to not get married until you are OK being unmarried. What I mean is that we need to find contentment in God before we "yoke" ourselves to a marriage partner. If we project our need for God onto a person, we are making that person an idol in our life...and idols will ALWAYS disappoint us.

The importance of this concept is clearly seen in the way God instructed the Israelites to act regarding foreign wives. In short, it was forbidden to take a foreign wife. When God's people entered the Promised Land, they were told: "Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord's anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you" (Deuteronomy 7:3-4).

King Solomon is a classic example of someone who did not heed this caution. He was the wisest person of his time and his achievements were world-renowned. Still his life became unhinged because he became unequally yoked. We read that:

King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter – Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonites and Hittites. They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, "You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods." Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love...As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Amonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord. (1 Kings 11:1-2, 4-6)

The consequence was that his kingdom was torn from him and the country of Israel was divided. If the wisest person to ever live blew his assignment in God because of unequal yokes with foreign wives, we would do well to be careful whom we partner with.

I understand there are some believers who are already married to unbelievers and not much can be done to change the situation. Where this is the case, it is important not to fall into condemnation. God knew you would be exactly where you are and has a redemptive outcome for you. Paul speaks about this in 1 Corinthians 7:13-14. He says that if you are married to an unbeliever and he/she does not want a divorce that you should continue to live with him or her and that your spouse is actually sanctified through you, as well as your children. Paul goes on to say that should the unbelieving spouse leave, we should allow them to do so. God will redeem unequal yokes. Still, knowing God can fix a broken situation should not be a license to make a poor choice.

We need to make it an absolute priority to yoke ourselves with other believers. It is critical that we fellowship together regularly. We need to commit to choosing husbands and wives who share our values. We need to surround ourselves with good company that will help us shine fully for God as we were meant to. One of my favorite people is a good friend of mine, Rusty. Rusty calls out my identity and purposes in God almost every time I see him. He is an encourager and I love this about him. Do yourself a favor, and find the Rusty in your life. Cherish that person, and make sure to guard your heart from anyone who cause you not to shine for God.
Discussion Questions

  1. Identify the people in your life who help you shine for God. What can you do to make sure that you are surrounding yourself with those people.
  2. Are you an active part of a church family? How do you receive from this family? What can you do to give to this family? If you are not an active part of a group of fellowshipping Christians then ask the Lord to help you find a church family.

A word of caution: I've known many people who find fault in whatever church they are in. They become Christian grasshoppers who hop from one place to the next. Failing to commit to a fellowship likewise means that you are failing to be accountable with some of the tough parts of your life. If this is you, please understand that there will always be problems in churches because people are human, but if everyone else is always the problem than maybe everyone else isn't the real problem. Family requires overcoming problems together. Commit to being part of a family and commit to working through problems without giving up on God's people.
Chapter 21

Rise Again

A final key to protecting our identity is learning what to do and what to believe when we fail. Even if we gave everything we had to earnestly pursue all that is in this book, a time will come when we will mess up. We will then be faced with a critical moment. Will we believe God's truth about us or will we believe we are a failure? Will the voice in our head that says, "It will always be this way. This is just who you are!" find a foothold in our heart? Or will we stand firm on God's Word over us?

Our identity in God does not change even on our worst day. We cannot be defined by what happens in our most terrible moments. That is simply not who we are. We are holy royal priests who are having an "unholy" moment. Consider how distinguishing a zebra's marks are. It is an unmistakable animal. Yet, if a zebra spent the day in the mud, one could be tempted to mistake the zebra for a muddy donkey or a horse. Yet, in spite of its appearance, it would remain a zebra. Our nature in God is unchanging. Our identity is not based on performance or how good we are today. It's based on God's promises. Just as a zebra cannot change its stripes, so we cannot change what the Word says about us.

The Bible tells us that "for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes" (Proverbs 24:6 NIV). Notice that it is given that the righteous will fall. This verse is not meant to justify sin. It is meant to show us how to act when we do stumble. We are to "rise again." If we are going to rise and shine in the fullness of who we are, it is absolutely critical that we learn to rise again after a bad moment or a bad season in our lives. God's children will rise again after falling, but the wicked will not. This is a distinguishing characteristic for us. We need to live with a revelation in our hearts that there is no condemnation for those who in Christ (Romans 8:1).

The devil has a way of getting us to do something wrong and then pointing a finger at us after it happens to tell us how bad we are. He then comes with a line about trying harder to get all the ground back that we've lost. Maybe after a month of trying harder we can be worthy to come before God again and perhaps God will use us. Maybe if we don't screw up for a while we can begin to hope again. The problem is that tomorrow never comes. We never do get to the point where we feel good enough. The devil convinced us not to rise again. He knew how much we would shine if we did, and he used condemnation to keep us down.

In Revelation the devil is called the "accuser of the brethren." He accuses people before God's throne day and night (Revelation 12:10). That is a powerful image. Satan continuously stands before God accusing us. We see the same behavior in the first chapter of Job where the devil blamed Job before God. We have to understand that his nature is to accuse. I'm sure that the devil does not just stand there and make up stuff. I bet he's reminding God of all our sins. What's beautiful though is that the very next verse in Revelation says our accuser has been hurled down and that we overcome him by Jesus' blood and our testimony (Revelation 12:11). Jesus' blood purifies us and covers us, which creates a testimony for us to live from.

Do you recall when Jesus asked the woman caught in adultery where her accusers were (John 8:10)? They had dropped their stones and their allegations in the presence of Jesus. The devil has to do exactly the same!

There is an amazing scene where this unfolds in the book of Zechariah. When I was a new believer in the Lord, a prophet prayed this over me. I was undone by the revelation God deposited in my heart that day. This is what Kathy de la Hunt read over me:

"Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, 'The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?'

Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, 'Take off his filthy clothes.'

Then he said to Joshua, 'See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you.'

Then I said, 'Put a clean turban on his head.' So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by."(Zechariah 3:1-5)

As Kathy shared this, I felt like my chest was being ripped open and a word of God was being deposited in me. I cannot remember a more powerful moment of being wrecked by the Word of God. This passage of Scripture is a powerful revelation needed for all of us to rise again!

Satan clearly had a good reason to accuse Joshua who was dressed in filthy clothes. God even says that Joshua had been snatched from fire. In spite of his guilt, look who comes to Joshua's defense. God does! God rebukes the accuser. He then reassured Joshua that He had taken away his sin, and He clothed Joshua with new clothes and a new turban. His filthiness was removed by God; the accuser was silenced.

Joshua represents each one of us. He was the high priest, just as we are now God's royal priesthood (see chapter 8). The turban represents our priestly authority (see chapter 10) which God was affirming. The clean clothes represent the righteousness of Jesus that covers us (see chapter 6).

It goes without saying that we are burning sticks snatched from the fire. We have filthy garments covered with the mud of sin. Even so, we are like the zebra. Our stripes don't change. The stripes that mark us are the same ones that marked Jesus. His stripes were our healing. They were our redemption. Because of Jesus' stripes, God can rebuke the devil and clothe us in clean garments of righteousness.

When we stay down after we fall, we have believed one of the greatest deceptions of all. We have believed that the sacrifice that once redeemed us is somehow invalidated because we failed to live up to our best expectations of ourselves. Like Peter, we thought we'd do better than we did. Jesus told Peter, "when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers" (Luke 22:31). He might as well have said, "when you rise again." Jesus knew Peter would mess up. He also knew Peter would rise again. If we are going to shine like we are supposed to, we're going to have to rise again after we fall. Every time we get up after we fall, we kick the devil in his teeth!

We are meant to shine the glory of God, even after a bad day. The Bible is clear on this point: "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord" (Ephesians 5:8). There is no middle ground. It does not say, you were once mostly darkness, but now you are mostly light, especially on your good days. You are what God says you are. You are light. How are we to respond when we have a bad day? We are to rise again. We are to get up and shine!

Recently a story emerged on social media of a tribe in Africa that practiced this principal. Before a child was conceived his/her mother would hear the song of her coming child and teach it to the father. This song was then taught to the midwives. When the child was born, the child's song was sung. When important coming of age events happened the song was also sung.

There is another time the song was sung. If someone committed a serious crime or offense, the tribe gathered around them and sang their song. The song was a reminder of who they were. In that way they were restored to their identity. Punishment is not the answer. The answer is to remember who we are.

I'm not sure if this story is true, but it illustrates a very true spiritual principal. God sings over us (Zephaniah 3:17). When we end up in the mud, we need to listen to His song. We need to be reminded of our identity. It is only God's song that will silence the accuser. We must hear His voice in our lives to remind us who we are. That is how we will rise again and SHINE!
Discussion Questions

Have you ever fallen into the trap of "trying harder next time" only to realize that you never get there? If you have struggled to "rise again" then spend some time reading Zechariah 3:1-5 and allow the Spirit to pick you up and cleanse you with the word of God. 
Note From the Author

It has truly been my privilege to share this work with you. I trust it has ministered to you, and blessed you as it has blessed me. I can never manage to keep books I like. I always give them away "one time too many." If you are like me, please feel free to share this with others, make copies or distribute it as the opportunity arises.

I'd love to hear from you, and can be reached at amullek@yahoo.com. You may also follow me on Facebook at "Andrew Mullek."

In Him,

Andrew Mullek 
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