Month: September 2017

Provocative Thoughts for the Morning:
After Abraham stood still before the L-rd (Psalm 46:10), Genesis 18:23 does not merely say that Abraham spoke to the L-rd.
Rather, it says that Abraham DREW NEAR and said…
Genesis has up to this point in several ways established that, not only had G-d given instructions for Abraham to obey, which he did fairly well in many ways, but also another dynamic had germinated and grown between the L-rd and this subtle, Bedouin herdsman.
We are talking about friendship.
Pick up a couple of the subtleties of Genesis 18:22-23 with me.
What does it mean to “stand still before the L-rd”?
Possibly that Abraham was considering what his next statement to his friend the L-rd should be.
The Father hadn’t moved on and he asked himself whether he should share with Abraham the thoughts of his heart and mind, knowing Abraham’s bend toward commanding his legacy toward a posture of righteousness. Would that heart cry for righteousness and that authority to call for the same extend to the place where it interfered with G-d’s plans for the cities on the plain?
G-d’s sharing of his plans with Abraham reveal a dynamic of His nature that we don’t often think about when it comes to reading the Tanakh. Even though he is indeed Sovereign Judge, he is still quite vulnerable and has emotions the depth of which and purity of which we fail to understand, much less be willing to wrap our arms around. This is not some heartless and cruel taskmaster who enjoys roasting the wicked in hellfire and brimstone. G-d , even as Sovereign Judge takes no drunken pleasure in the death of the wicked, as we are so won’t to do.
Rather, every single one of his decisions is made in the context of sobriety.
And Abraham, standing still, was likely pondering what he knew about G-d. This is an illustration of the principle of Psalm 46:10 at work.
Then, he spoke to the one in whom he could trust.
“Shall the Judge of all the Earth do what is just?”
Wait a minute, sparing people is a form of justice?
Yes, it can be. Especially when some of those people can be considered righteous the way the L-rd reckons righteousness, which is a homiletic exhortation for another day.
Abraham made a heart connection with G-d that day, and here is how I arrive at that conclusion, in the spirit of James 4:8.
“Then Abraham DREW NEAR and said…”
Draw near to him and he will draw near in return.
I imagine that drawing near captured something in G-d’s heart. For Abraham, there was plenty of risk. His nephew was living with the wicked. He must have loved him dearly, given the sequence of circumstances that led to this point. He was concerned with all of his legacy. And He knew something about G-d that maybe we have since forgotten. Drawing near To someone that powerful and holy is a scary proposition.
And G-d, in response, fulfilled a win/win both ways. The righteous were spared, and the wicked were destroyed, WITHOUT GLEE OR GLOATING.
If you wish to ask something of Him, are you willing to risk drawing near and considering His nature in order to ask what you need of Him?
He doesn’t promise your interactions with him will be free and easy, but he does promise you will grow and change and be transformed in the process.
Be blessed.

I purchased a copy of this teaching while I was in Toronto on March 19, 2016 for the live event When Your Call Is Blocked.
And on the way home from Toronto to Springfield, Massachusetts, Father told me to pop this series into my CD player for the trip home.
And in one word…WOW!
The concept of legitimacy is directly tied to and forms the root of our identity. For years, I have been beating the drum of identity, and in so many words, this teaching was just confirmation of things I had taught, but never really internalized.
Of course, Arthur pulls no punches in this teaching, specifically because his yearning is for people to be free, even if that means they are uncomfortable momentarily.
That entire trip home, I found issue after issue to deal with and repent of, and following those issues I dealt with, I learned one ver simple truth, approached at from a multiplicity of angles.
I am legitimate specifically because God is and because God loves me.
Not that God loves me in the trite way that we like to talk about love. But that God loves me as in God really is tenderly affectionate towards me and is concerned for my well-being.
The Father has a genuine concern for what happens to his children, and when we use things other than his love as measuring tools for whether we are legitimate or not, then we have bought into the enemy’s lies.
We are not legitimate because we are born in to a certain nation, into a certain family, or even because we have a specific spiritual gift or skillset.
We are legitimate because God is and God is loves us.
Yeah, I know this may come across as mushy, but Father just really is radically taken with us and is jealous over us with a jealousy that rages against anything that is a lie and is designed to harm us.
Get this CD album. I cannot recommend it highly enough!
https://theslg.com/cd-albums/503-legitimacy.html

My wife and I have a very precious friend in Massachusetts.
She rarely speaks, but when she does, there is is life and heart and outstanding refinement in her words.
She, IIRC, is a Texas native.
Below are her unedited words on the topic, and they are flawless:
“I read my newsfeed and can tell that a lot of you went through hell. How you’re still alive is a flippin’ mystery. Neither of us knows how that happened. And you’ve found your voice after it was stolen, or broken, or lost. You’ve plowed through and found healing, and now you’re invested in helping other people. And that’s super cool, but don’t let that stop you from even greater heights. To take the healing that you’ve gotten and call it good is to sabotage how much further you could go. Don’t stop seeking the truth. Don’t lie to yourself and call the work complete when it’s not. Don’t turn into a semi-healed, compromised person helping totally broken people. It’s just another way for darkness to win by keeping you from greater victory, and thus, the people you help from greater healing. Keep climbing. Keep pushing. Keep seeking. Yes, you flippin’ can, because this isn’t as far as you can go.”
The words of prophecy are for edification, exhortation, and comfort. These are those sorts of words. Bang-on-the-dot, sister.