This is one of those items I would like to boil down into its essence and share what it looks like on Monday morning during these 20-21 day periods.
And realizing that there are times when things may differ according to the King’s or Kingdom’s needs, I would like to talk about what this tool seems to be.
There are four periods strewn, more or less equidistantly throughout the year, and when you consider the enemy uses the two equinoxes and solstices to engage with his servants in dark things, it only makes sense to reaffirm the reality….
G-d was there first.
G-d was not there attempting to respond. G-d is first and was the first before anything else was. When the enemy comes and brings something, one can almost be certain that G-d was there doing something with that time that the enemy chose to pervert, given the enemy cannot create original anything. He can only take what G-d has done and adjust, twist, move, or co-opt it. Create a version of it.
And anything other than the original version of something is what we might call a per-version. This is what is really at the root of the word “perversion”. Other than original and authentic. Synthetic. Counterfeit. Fakey.
In short, a lie.
For those that need the textual reference, read the Gospel of John, 8:44
The only thing the devil can create is ultimately a lie.
Therefore, in looking at the fact that the enemy seeks to be exalted, we look at an inverse of that.
So, in these sets of seasons, we (I and others in the body) have discovered patterns that tend to be emphasized during these seasons, patterns of behavior that happen during the equinoxes and the solstices include the reality that, because these four days are intense occult times, they involve a lot of enemy activity.
And, counter to the primary purpose of being a follower of Messiah, namely the ministry of reconciliation, the enemy seeks alienation on a massive scale. Alienation within a person, alienation between a person and those most life-giving sources in their life, and alienation most ultimately between a person and his or her Maker.
That is, the enemy wants to break us away from those things G-d intended to be major parts of our constellation. Our communities seem to get assaulted in March. Our connection to land in June. Our connection to G-d in September. Our connection to our destiny in December.
So, given that understanding, we find the inverse also to be true. What the enemy meant for evil, G-d means for good.
So, then, these windows, fitting seasons, opportunities, these καιρὸς moments are meant to not only be seasons for stabilizing us in the midst of these four elements, they are also meant for us to get some incredible mileage and forays into the enemy’s camp to recover things taken from us.
I recovered three critical relationships during the March WOR, to cite one example.
And, last September, through the impact of one of my close friends, I was able to connect for the first time in my life with the Father Himself. Not the Father through Yeshua, but Abba, unmediated.
So, I have seen the impact of these seasons in my own life repeatedly.
And so, around these times of year, I like to construct blessings for either the aspect of the window, or for the spirits of those humans going to wrestle with these dynamics in their given locations, cities, places in the Kingdom of G-d, or birthrights.
Gang, this is a precious thing.
What the enemy does, the L-rd wants to completely partner with us as sons and as brides to not only undo with the opposite spirit, but to also completely supplant and replace that weed with the plant of His original choosing and design.
Just some thoughts here as we embrace this.
For further reading on this topic, see the following article from Sapphire Leadership Group pertaining to March’s WOR.
I do not know how deeply this will land and how much sense it will make to those who read it, but for those of us who work with land, the concept will likely make sense.
People tend toward one of seven major designs, we call these Redemptive Gifts. For more on that, start here.
And for the “why” of calling them Redemptive, go here.
Now, as to the rest of the story.
Father has placed some patterns in Scripture that are pretty consistent.
One of those patterns follow the number 7.
10 is another, and so is 12. And so on.
Sidebar: I do not spell the numbers smaller than 100 out because in the midst of a wall of text, numbers stick out visually. I write with mostly proper grammar and syntax, as I am an English major by training. And a grammar cop.
However, as a Mercy, I write for people’s visual comfort as well. And those cues remain important for those who, in this generation, read or take in information visually. Therefore, if I deem using a numeral serves my purpose better than spelling it out, then you, the reader, are going to have bo be okay with that.
To wit, if you do not like that I do not spell numbers (read: I refuse to abide by those standards) or use the Oxford Comma, then you are in the wrong place.
So, back to the topic at hand. Among the patterns that show up in Scripture, 7 is so implicit to the text that lists and groupings show up repeatedly. Even the structure of canon follows a heptadic structure and rhythm.
And many of those lists of items parallel one another and feed into one another. So the Redemptive Gifts of Romans 12:6-8 parallel:
The Seven Trees of Isaiah
The Seven Spirits of G-d
The Seven Patriarchs from Adam running Inverse from Adam as Mercy to Enoch as Prophet.
The Seven items of furniture in the Tabernacle
The Seven Feasts of Israel
The Seven of the Ten Compound Names of Adonai (Names Four through Ten)
The Seven Letters of Adonai to the churches in Revelation
The Seven Presents of Jacob to Joseph
The Seven Statements of the L-rd in the Burning Bush
The Seven Statements in the 120 years preceding Noah’s Altar
The Seven Actions of Connection with the L-rd in Psalm 23
The Seven seasons of the Book of Judges tied to the Seven Curses
The Seven Last Words of Messiah
The Seven Voices in Psalm 29
The Seven Stages of Brain Rot in Romans 1
The Seven Things the L-rd dislikes in Proverbs 6:16ff
The Seven Signs in John’s Gospel
The Seven parables of the Kingdom in the Gospel of Desire
The Seven Items in the Believers Armor, including the Shoes of READINESS
The Sevens galore in Revelation
And more besides.
So, given the L-rd has imbued all of reality, per the biblical text in multiple places, with this pattern, is it really a leap to suggest that certain people of a kind would gather in places that feel like home?
Treasures In the Earth
And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place
Acts 17:26 ESV
And let me add from a chunk of Job 28 to illustrate a concept embodied in the natural by Sutter’s Mill and the Comstock Lode.
Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold that they refine. Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted from the ore. Man puts an end to darkness and searches out to the farthest limit the ore in gloom and deep darkness. He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives; they are forgotten by travelers; they hang in the air, far away from mankind; they swing to and fro. As for the earth, out of it comes bread, but underneath it is turned up as by fire. Its stones are the place of sapphires, and it has dust of gold. That path no bird of prey knows, and the falcon’s eye has not seen it. The proud beasts have not trodden it; the lion has not passed over it. Man puts his hand to the flinty rock and overturns mountains by the roots. He cuts out channels in the rocks, and his eye sees every precious thing. He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle, and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.
Job 28:1-11 ESV
There are treasures in the land in the natural, there are plants, animals, ecosystems, and under the earth are minerals, gemstones, precious metals, and valuable substances placed in various places. Bauxite, Diamonds, Sapphires, Emeralds, Topaz, Lead, Uranium, Gold, Platinum, crude oil, Cobalt, Rare Earth Elements.
As the San Joaquin Valley led to the founding of Union Oil, and Salinas and Gilroy led to Garlic and Cherries, and Silicon Valley led to silicon-rooted-technology, and South Africa led to Diamonds, and Northern California led to Wine and Gold, do we not think that there is a spiritual application to this concept. Can G-d place treasures in the land, unique to the land that will draw certain people to that land?
The answer is yes. And, given what we see in the natural reflects the reality of the spiritual realm, then I surmise He distributed his treasures to chunks of land, and as a result, determined that people who resonate with those treasures are going to live there as well.
There are places that look good to a person, and then there are places that feel like home….and there is a difference.
Illustrating the Gifts In the Land Using the Teacher Gift
Now, let me use my beloved Teacher gift as an illustration for this.
Two things we know about the Teacher for these purposes that are easy enough to see. Teachers tend toward 1) Medical arenas, and 2) education and research arenas. Fair enough?
Let’s take the medical, since the education does not really need to be expanded at this point. Teachers teach, right?
Look at the Third Day….
Plants, Vegetation, and Dry land…
Most medical compounds derive from elements found in the Plant Kingdom, things found in the third day.
Thus, the medical arena has this imprint of meticulous research.
Typically.
And the Levites, who were the Teachers of Israel, and handled the Tabernacle, also handled the diagnosis of various ailments, home sicknesses, molds, plagues, and were responsible for the removal of those with plagues from the camp…..well, you get the idea.
This pattern of medical and healing appears over and over with the Teacher.
Johns Hopkins is a good example of this. In Baltimore, a city full of research and medicine. A city full of greenspace. A city full of those dynamics.
A Teacher city.
And these institutions that are typically founded by Teachers, typically reflect that connection with the Third Day, and other teacher dynamics. As patterns emerge in the fabric, when I see something that has that meticulous quality to it and lots of details, I move in the direction of Teacher.
For as G-d enables Teachers to tinker and process slowly, they tend to move together and find their own tribe. Then, they tend to take residence on a chunk of land that feels like home and resembles their design.
As with Prophets, Servants, and the rest.
The Purpose: Manifestation of Sons In the Kingdom To Bring Redemption
And the King intends, per Romans 8, for creation and land to interact with us, you see personalities show up in nature and land and cities.
That is, creation, which includes land, cries out for the manifestions of the Sons of G-d. And the purpose of sons is to bring redemption to bear on all facets of reality. And those that do not know the L-rd can even be instruments in His hand set up to bring the purposes of G-d into a place.
Thus says the L-RD to his anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have grasped,
Isaiah 45:1
But he [that is, Pharaoh Neco] sent envoys to him [that is King Josiah of Judah], saying, “What have we to do with each other, king of Judah? I am not coming against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war. And God has commanded me to hurry. Cease opposing God, who is with me, lest he destroy you.
2 Chronicles 35:21. ESV
Meaning, G-d can use anyone with their design given by Him from conception, to accomplish his means, and he can humble anyone he darn well pleases.
The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the L-RD;
he turns it wherever he will.
Proverbs 21:1 ESV
In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him.
Daniel 2:1 ESV
All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” While the words were still in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers, and his nails were like birds’ claws.
Dan 4:28-33 ESV
Design shows up in these gifts over and over and over again. And there are carnal manifestations that are not submitted to the King, and there are high-functioning manifestations in people who are submitted to the King.
In the carnal Ruler, we see empire building and we see them emotionally unstable.
And in the healthy Ruler we see a fathering aspect that builds sons into effective builders and fighters.
Manifestations of the Gifts in Particular Cities
New York has a nice grid set up, there is an access to the city. It’s a Giver city.
Boston however, these tiny roads curve and go every which way. And they do not care about your opinion about their geography. And they excel in bleeding-edge technology and engineering, and they served as a flash point, together with South Carolina, for revolution. And you better not be a Yankees fan wearing a Bucky Bleeping Dent Jersey in Beantown.
Boston Robbed in 1978
Typical Prophet.
And In Business
And we also note that organizations take on the personality of the founder.
Even4One, founded by an unmistakable Prophet, carries the feel and image of her founder, who from my viewpoint of Prophets, carries some of the sweetest and highest-functioning expressions of the gift.
Sapphire Leadership Group, carries Arthur’s imprint, and churns out ideological material rooted in principles tied to the founder.
And a thousand different organizations, founded by people, who, under the prevenient grace of G-d, are being prepared for expressions of His redemption, even while they do not seek him (Romans 5:8), show the DNA of the founder, and the design of the founder.
And many other organizations do this.
The aviation Industry as a whole, carries the Prophet and Teacher imprints by turns, some see the new cutting edge, and some see the tinkering.
Even the aircraft have feels to them.
And this is just one more expression of the pattern of things created by humans with one of seven designs, designs that were given in their Mother’s wombs (Psalm 139).
Whether or not they like it, humanity, redeemed or not yet redeemed, shows forth his eternal nature and divine power, so that no one may be without excuse.
Creation everywhere sees this pattern everywhere.
Witnesses to his goodness and majesty and love are everywhere, and therefore no one is left without an excuse that will hold on That Day.
The Purpose of Redemptive Patterns And Messaging
Redemptive messaging, placed E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E., and which is the King’s specialty (Luke 16:19; Romans 1) is strewn throughout all of creation and everywhere in the Biblical text, and even in non-biblical texts. What, do we think His arm is slackened or shortened that it cannot redeem no matter what the situation?
And the purposes of these patterns that crop up everywhere, are as witnesses that will testify to the King.
Such as the words of one healed Exhorter:
“You stood by my side all these years while I reaped the benefits of destruction. Now that I’m trying to protect the people I’ve put in harm’s way, you’re going to walk out?”
And because all of these institutions and landforms are peopled by humanity and patterned after the rest of creation, and because they all serve His purposes ultimately, and because the land reflects people, and Chicago is not New York is not Boston is not JAX, we see the trends and patterns. And we are responsible to partner with EVERYTHING the King has made available to us in order to bring the section of creation under our jurisdiction back to Him.
A few more thoughts here, gang. First, from Genesis 19
“The outcry of Sodom”
It wasn’t the people. The Hebrew there literally reads “Sodom’s outcry”. That Hebrew word for outcry was a distress call, such as you would use to call the police. The land was in distress, and the land cried out due to the people’s iniquity.
Second thought beyond that.
Numbers 35 talks about polluting the land, and the consequences for polluting the land (Leviticus 20:22). THE LAND shall vomit you out. Not the L-rd. Not the people. The land will behave as a human whose stomach has become sickened and it itself will reject the people.
The land itself responds to things.
Now, for those who would take this to mean I am arguing for the sentience of the land, well, that is not where I am going.
I am pointing out that the land functions in many ways the way we function at times. We who have redemption and redemptive agency flowing through us.
So, maybe, land responds in some way more than we have first thought….
Also, 2 Chronicles 7:14 refers to G-d healing the land. And this strikes me as the L-rd doing something beyond mere metaphor, and it would behoove us to discern and hear and look at what He is doing in a patch of land for which we are responsible.
Just as land can carry defilement and pollution, so it can also carry a blessing, and we are commanded in Scripture to bless the land and the dwelling places with which we associate.
I realize this second half is a potpourri of land items. And one might say what does this have to do with gifts and treasures in the land?
Well, it strikes me that with the exhortations of promised LAND having treasures in it (milk and honey) that we can see, perhaps there is a mirror of this in the spirit, and in a particular patch of land there is a strong enough pull of those treasures in the spirit that it gathers people of a kind to it to care for it. Maybe the land knows something that we do not…..
These are just my thoughts….feel free to consider and ask questions. And be blessed, gang.
When the King gave counsel in Matthew 6, as with the rest of the gospel of Matthew, he was not advising us in the arena of the sorts of physical things we tend to obsess over, though physical assets are important on some level for living here.
Rather, repeatedly we see a predilection for the internal, the location of the heart, the emotions, the spirit, the soul, the unseen things, the desires on the inside that lead to our actions on the outside.
Matthew was taken up with a 28-chapter exposition, not to give us a new covenant, or a new command, but with exposition of the Tenth Commandment.
Chapter 6 tells us where our desires ought to be. And then the basics of life and everything necessary for life and godliness are added to us.
It is interesting, given the reality that so many struggle, and especially the Giver, with the physical assets, and again, resources we touch are not unimportant, and those who say they are, well, there is something wrong there, with an unhealthy hyper-worm bastard Calvinist theology that says, I do not deserve anything at all. This “total depravity” even of believers flies in the face of the reality of what Father (who strikes me with a massive streak of Giver) did for us, in yielding up His Most Precious Resource for our sakes.
Men and women, you are sons of the kingdom. And the King gives you resources with which to build, and those even include the skillful allocation of the temporal. He does not expect you to be guilted into giving all you have away. He does, however, look to see if you are willing and available, not to be used (as if you are His ho to be used: praying “use me, L-rd” strikes me with a prostitutionary vibe, I almost never pray that, that is devoid of the partnership language the King intends for us).
I do not want to be used. I already had enough issues with rejection and abandonment. Rather, I want to partner with the King who Is Love, and does not USE us, but rather connects with us.
So, let’s look to connect with Him and walk with him.
And, just in case women are irritable at being called sons, just remember, men are called the Bride of Messiah, and I am very comfortable with my Bridal Identity.
So, congratulations, life is uncomfortable for everyone.
And as a new organization comes into being, there is, at its root, someone responsible for the conception and gestation of that idea. Responsible for the materials, the assets…that are used to bring that organization into being.
Birthing is the job of the Giver. And the protection of that nascent life is the responsibility of the Servant. Without the Giver and the Servant, the new thing is not sustainable.
I can hear the groans now from the crowd now. “Again with this Avengers schtick! David, what the hell does this have to do with redemption?! Or spiritual gifts.”
I am glad you asked that question, or did not ask it. Here is a lovely, protracted response.
In the case of the Avengers, the Giver that gave life to the organization was Phil Coulson. With his death, ultimately. And the Servant that protected its young life, its soul, its heart, its integrity, and kept it from getting twisted off-mission was Steve Rogers, starting from the moment he got suspicious of Phase 2 weapons created with the Tesseract, through the events of Civil War, attempted to help Tony and Bucky find their respective ways back home, through Infinity War, and he was the rallying point for the entire team.
And the purpose of the Avengers was to fight the battles humanity could not otherwise fight. They were made to take a situation that had been made horrid and to improve it, to take what was lost and regain it, restoring it, to compensate for the faults of those for whom they fought.
In other words, they fought to redeem a lost hope.
Aaaaannnnnnnd leave it to the cocky Exhorter to put forth the organization’s vision toward the villian…
Redeem…..
Sound familiar, gang?
REDEMPTIVE Gifts
I have a theory about why the gifts were called “redemptive”….so, bear with me on this as I work through this.
They were called the Redemptive Gifts because these seven designs show us seven flavors of redemption, which is a common theme in Scripture.
We seven were made to, in alignment with the covenant we have with Reality Himself, bring the best of redemption, reconiciliaton, and victory to humanity, to creation, and to the spiritual realm. We were made to redeem….after the acts of our Father, Bridegroom, and Paraclete.
Redemption is a major part of the biblical text.
2 Cor 5:17-21: the King’s chief mission is not to merely save people, according to the way we think of “saving” people. This reality is not meant to merely be one protracted altar call alone, though that does form part of the reality. Rather, it is to reconcile and redeem all of creation to the Father, as much of it as will come in accordance to the call and appeal of the Beloved Lover made through us as His conduits. I dare say too many people think our job is solely one of spiritual geographic transfer of humans; just to remove people from hell, depositing them into heaven. L-rd knows, we hear plenty of altar calls that are only for salvation, baptism, and church membership. Yet, this is not the point or the crux of the ministry we have been handed. Nevertheless, too often, consideration is not given to what happens after we have turned people from hell to heaven. However, a people that has been only relocated like chattel without thought given to fostering love and connection within them, among them, or with them is good for what?!
Exodus 6:6: Father’s ultimate mission was to redeem Israel from Mizraim. True, we are talking about the geographic movement and liberation of an oppressed people from their oppressors, getting Israel out of Mizraim. However, we are also talking about getting the Mizraim out of Israel. Dad wanted to use the season in the wilderness to deliver a nation of slaves from slavery into sonship. From bondage into freedom. Redemption is tied to the rescue from the things that oppress us externally, yes, but it is also about rescuing us from the things that shackle us internally, things that keep us from flowing in the liberty for which Father designed us.
This is another aspect of the Gifts, and the many vareigations of redemption, liberation, and reconciliation, both internal and external. Seven flavors of rescue; reconciliation; restoration; upward-and-forward motion; righteous strategy and warfare; protection; accrual of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding (none of these three are better than the other two, they are just different storehouses and repositories of acquisition). Seven designs, each unique from the other six. Seven perspectives on Kingdom execution, and each one a shadow of its potential without the other six. There is a reason the Prophet wants the news and describes things as black-and-white while the Mercy wants the details and the emotions and the “this is what I feel”. The Prophet activates the Mercy’s mind, and the Mercy activates the Prophet’s heart. Without heart, the Prophet will be a shadows of their potential, and without ethics and integrity, the Mercy’s excellence will never take flight. In another facet, The Exhorter Himself, Yeshua, wounds and activates the Teacher’s arena and brings to them encounter with the Living Word, if the Teacher will ask for it, so their mind is not only emotionally safe, but their hearts are also in play and tender toward those in their charge.
The seven gifts were made to work in tandem with one another. This is why the primacy of love. Because without love, we will not help Further, the process described in the book of Numbers following the rescue of slaves from bondage, is what the King means with all of us: taking a generation of slaves and transforming them into a generation of sons. Sonship is the next and eternal adventure that awaits us post-rescue.
Leviticus 25: Father made mention repeatedly of the concept of redemption of things, of land, of animals, of homes, and of firstborn. Meaning redemption comes to these things, meaning redemptive dynamics were made to touch all of cration.
Romans 8 tells us the following: “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of G-d. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of G-d. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” Meaning, we were made to bring redemption to bear on all of creation, at some level. Now, we can argue to what end that is meant to be, but my contention is, let’s try some things and allow the King to say yes or no to us in our work, and let’s figure out how deeply we can bring redemption to each part of creation, not merely to humans.
2 Chronicles 7:14 gets overlooked. The L-rd promises that, when we repent and seek Him, not that He will heal us, but rather heal our LAND.
Ruth is a story of redemption, moving a Moabite into native Israel, and giving her a new heritage, which was her deepest heart’s cry, even though she was originally a pagan. In Ruth, we see how she showed loyalty to a despairing native Israelite, and herself was provided a home a place, a legacy in Israel, and a son that ultimately became an ancestor to the greatest king of Israel, David, who in turn became the father of the Messiah.
Psalm 26 and Job 5:20: we were made to be Rescued not just from hell, but also from death.
Psalm 130 shows the picture of redemption from generational sin, called iniquity.
And, given we are discussing the Redemptive Gifts, I would contend that, when the L-rd Himself knitted us together and designed us, and those gifts are tied explicitly to design, they were hardwired into us from the beginning. It’s the initial kiss from the King, that came hardwired into us along with our human spirits.
Psalm 139 is fairly explicit in some of its language, so let us proceed there.
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
Psalm 139:13-14 ESV
All of Him made all of us, for a purpose. I despise dropping a turd of exposition in the middle of one of David’s most lovely poems, but I am going to do that for those that need the cross-reference.
We are his workmanship created in Messiah Yeshua for good works, which G-d prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them, per Ephesians 2:10.
Meaning, before we knew Him, we were created originally in Him for those works, originally designed for those good works. Now, whether or not we walk in those works, and whether or not we ever come to know Him, those choices are clearly ours. However, that does not negate that we were designed by Him for those works from the moment 23 and 23 equaled 46. He gave us those drives, inclincations, momenta, and motivations (another common term for the Redemptive Gifts are the Motivational Gifts) before we even came to know Him.
23 chromosomes from each of the gametes yield a being with 46 chromosomes.
Now, I could say that we are only given gifts by the L-rd following our salvation,
but…
…knowing the King lavishes His love and His prevenient grace (the grace that intervenes ahead of time) on us before we came to know Him…
…given Romans 1 notes the L-rd’s invisible attributes, namely, “His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world” demonstrating we are without excuse as to the outpouring of His knowledge, and built into ALL creations are the seeds of redemption and redemptive power…
…and given it is the heart of the Father to demonstrate His love toward us while we were yet sinners, as Romans 5:8 says, which is a passage dealing with salvation and redemption…
..and given σῴζω in its range of meaning can mean “I save”, or “I preserve”, or “I benefit”…
….it is entirely possible and within the realm of biblical reality that the King hardwired us in such a way that our designed trajectory is such that…
…momentum toward him is easier than away from him, and gifts were given to us, kisses from the King, in order to lead us to Him, that we might find Him….
My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
Psalm 139:15-16 ESV
And redemption was meant to be so transformative in to make things as if the bad had never happened. There is a transformational aspect that pervades all things redemptive.
Our interaction with Him is not merely a salvation issue or a leaving hell issue. It’s an issue of being reconciled to a loving Father, who yearns emotionally for us, from the point of conception. So, I would argue He hardwired us in our mothers’ wombs from conception, not for sin, which the clowns would love to twist, but rather for coming back home. Especially given we are made in His image and according to His likeness.
So, the picture of why these gifts are called “redemptive” strikes me as the Father’s loving intention to place as many marks in front of and inside of us in order to lead us back home to Him.
And, indeed, where can we honestly go that He is not? Where can we go to escape from His presence? Where can we flee from him?
Even in Sheol, the land of the dead, and in Hell, He is there with us.
Were we to make our bed with death, He could still be found with us, and He waits for us as the woman Wisdom, calling and wooing us to himself. Offering her treasures in the street. Peculiar and precious and precocious treasures.
Whelp, the Teacher post is again delayed….But that is okay for the moment.
If you are coming from the previous post in this chain, you will know I just dealt with the Mercy, Spider Man from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, because I love dealing with and analyzing the culture for patterns of the Redemptive Gifts.
Two cuss words ahead….
Reality…..
It’s a difficult thing to grasp….
In fullness…
Frequently, it doesn’t end the way we want it to end.
But, all our curses, and all our pain, and all our offenses, will not change a thing. Our Only one thing present can redeem us, our pain, our offenses, our curses, our janked-up lives.
The Root of Reality….
He sets the lonely in families, but he first does this by giving us battle buddies, partners, lovers, wives, husbands, brothers. Pairs. It takes a couple to make a family. And that couple started, if redemptive, by Father’s initiation, at the Bridegroom’s response, by wooing us to Himself first. And then by enabling us to see reality if we will embrace it. And that may take us embracing a great deal of pain in order to get to reality in fullness.
Families come because Father places us in proximity, and enables us to fight for one another.
And this unity starts and leads to endurance in fullness because husband and wife will fight for one another according to truth and principles. Unity can only come between husband in wife when they will fight for one another first, and then in the context of that, to fight for those given to them. If we stop being foxhole buddies reloading against the real enemy together, then we are fighting with half our fucking resources.
And I am done watching people fight with half their hands tied behind their backs.
I am done watching people insisting on a fighting with a handicap, and resisting the whole of what Father has given us.
You must fight alongside, pointing your weapons at the true enemy.
That’s reality.
Christ does not fight without his bride.
Why would we expect to be able to fight the enemy of our souls without the keeper of our hearts and lovers of our spirits?
In both of my marriages, my wives and I fought on our own.
I have spent 38 years watching couples fight one another with their earned authority or neglecting their earned authority, focusing on one another with their weapons, rather than partnering against the true enemy.
And I am done with this broken-ass paradigm.
If a marriage is to succeed fully, husband and wife must be joined as partners in the fight. Completely.
If there is a division, then that marriage will be hamstrung. Which means G-d must get us to the place of radical interdependency on one another, partnered with the Executing Spirit (whereas Defilement means “to break apart and violate principles”, Holy and Holiness means “to weave together principles to produce change”, and thus, “to execute”; G-d doesn’t just set us apart to leave us in a place, but rather sets us apart TO DO SOMETHING: it’s a number-line and a vector (direction plus motion) not a boundary line like a fence), then the threefold cord can proceed to the set of works for which we were designed.
Gang, you don’t do this without your partner. Which means G-d has to enable partnership.
Russian Epic of Cinderella……
If shoe fits, wear it….
And in this case, the shoes are the shoes from the Armor of G-d, and no they are not called the Shoes of Peace. The Shoes, which parallel the Redemptive Gift of Teacher, are called the Shoes of Readiness.
καὶ ὑποδησάμενοι τοὺς πόδας ἐν ἑτοιμασίᾳ
And having bound on the shoes of/in readiness/equipment/preparation
Aaaaaannnnddd cue Teacher rant, because I know that gift…..
DISCLAIMER: If you think this is only directed at the Teachers, you are sorely mistaken. I only talk about the Teacher because it is the gift I love and know the best.
The Principle of Responsibility is tied to being ready and equipped and capable of handling the situations in perfection and excellence with a well-thought-out-and-well-revealed strategy from heaven that is multipronged and give consideration to a breadth of factors.
Take the text the knowledge and do what Del Tarr said and allow the Trinity to turn that knowledge into “KNOWLEDGE ON FIRE”.
Teachers, your job is to lead the charge on this, as did the sons of Levi did at the foot of Horeb, and put your sword to your belt and handle business. Reading the law and hoping it will deliver on the thing on which you should be acting with skill and zeal is not sufficient.
You must do that thing yourself.
And those shoes, which are part of the equipment of every believer and follower of Messiah means that each believer must also get ready and be ready.
That flows from a Gospel of Wholeness/Shalom, but the outward quality that shows itself in the EXECUTION is readiness…..and that skill must predominate between couples that are the root of a family.
And readiness is how you establish a kingdom. Are you ready to run and fight and build and move and work with what you have been given.
That is the work of sons.
And just as men can be the Bride of Messiah, women too can be sons. Congratulations, life is uncomfortable for everyone.
Matthew 24:44…
Get ready……
And now, maybe I can get to the Teacher in due course.
I was going to go with a post on the Teacher, but then something struck me from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and so I had to run with it. So, here goes…
A Bit More On the Mercy From the MCU, and Then, I Promise We Will Get To the Teacher
Of course, I had to go here for a bit, because there is more than I wanted to say about the Mercy, given the material on the gift keeps bubbling up. So, because I analyze the RG’s in pop culture, there is a significant buildup of material that naturally flows. So, here goes…
Yes….the kid is a Mercy….and had the Exhorter for a surrogate/adoptive father…..
And his wound? It’s being presented with the question, “are you enough without the crutches, and the people, and the relationships, and the tricks, and the gifts, and the resources, and everything that is not the L-rd Himself who must alone stand guard over your heart without any additions?”
Because if you aren’t enough without the suit, then you’ll never be enough with the suit.”
When we first meet Peter in the MCU (Captain America: Civil War), we see as a boy with serious confidence deficit. He hides himself from those who love him and blames himself for the bad things that happen around him. In Homecoming and then Far From Home, we come to an individual with not just problems with self-confidence, but also serious legitimacy issues. From Civil War to Homecoming and Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, there was a deep internal struggle with both his identity, place, and purpose. He did not see himself for what Tony saw in him, even though it took Tony some time to come around to embracing Peter’s inherent value and design, and to father him effectively.
But eventually confidence bloomed and grew in Peter. This deep well took a hit when Tony died. With his father figure gone, he had to develop a different source, and dig a different well.
Unfortunately, this very negative belief about himself that he wasn’t good enough or strong enough to fill Tony’s shoes, led him to give up the resources that Tony gave to him to someone he thought could be trusted. Following that, Beck toyed with him and, because of Beck’s possession of Stark Tech, he was able to fool Peter into questioning the fabric of reality.
Though it was never about filling Tony’s shoes, but filling and walking in his own shoes, and flowing in his design.
Mercies, when their confidence is deeply tested, usually in the area of relationships, may question reality in the worst way. And this will bring them to a crossroads.
They ultimately must come to a place where they rest in the One Thing that will never abandon them, even when everything crumbles around them: the anchoring point of the nature of G-d, Who Is fiercely loving, completely consistent, will not forsake them, and commited to His covenant.
The wounding comes when they are stripped of those things that once brought them confidence, and the healing comes when their internal structure is so aligned with The One Who Is Perfect Reality that the external world deteriorating impacts them in a decreasing fashion. Dependence on the Bridegroom and no one else, not even family, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, spouses, close friends, is what stabilizes the Mercy as they grow through the season that threatens to wound them.
As a result of that, the L-rd pushes the Mercy to adopt a capacity to fix their problems piece-by-piece, without crutches, and as a result, they grow to respond to the following challenge.
As a result, they can either grow into what they were made to do, or shrink back, and their legacy be forgotten or picked up by someone else.
Mercies are going to either bloom or crack under pressure, and as a result of staying the course under pressure, something else comes of them. Something really good.
So, if they bloom in adversity, and they respond to the pressure by leaning hard into the L-rd (Proverbs 3:5-6; Isaiah 54:1-16) instead of relationships governing them, they govern their relationships. And to those relationships they add boundaries, which breaks the spirit of codependency.
Biblically speaking, I think about the confidence John got as a Mercy through living on the Island of Patmos, where he wrote the Revelation and then penned his gospel.
Just some thoughts here…..
Now, onto the Teacher….or not really…but that should be the following post…if I can get off my soapbox long enough to execute…
Gang, I did promise to present on this during March, but the unusual set of events that transpired, with reconciliations to multiple friendships, followed by losses of some significant friendships really was not something I was expecting….I received an unusual grace personally and intend to see advancement happen on every level for myself personally and for this group which is something I am stewarding for the King. His agenda….His resources…
Arthur has covered the idea of Window of Reconciliation, but I wanted to cover it in my own language…
So, that said….
1) what is a window of reconciliation generally?,
2) what are they for our purposes, specifically?, and
3) when and how do we access them?
For the purposes of our discussion, I intend to be an extremely practical. I want you to understand so that you can apply this the next time they come around.
Generally speaking, 1) A window of reconciliation is any period of time during which there is an opportunity combined with a Grace for bringing certain elements more cohesively together.
Now, I would not be surprised if they were other windows, that we have not discovered as a tribe.
After all, this is not the Arthur Burk show. We don’t merely sit around and wait like a bunch of consumers for him to tell us what we need to do.
He is very important to our constellation, because he does have a really good grip on the principles, and he does a whole lot of bleeding-edge research.
But I don’t think he wants those of us that affiliate with him to just sit around, waiting for him to come up with things in order to act.
I think he wants us each to walk in the principles, act according to our design, and propagate our own material in collaboration with the King.
Let me build an answer to Point 2, and then I will come back to other windows, possibly existing.
2) As some of you may already know, there are at least four windows that have been discovered.
And they run pretty regularly in accordance with the two equinoxes, and the two solstices throughout the year.
In order, starting with March, they are:
A) Window of Reconciliation With Community (March 10-31) B) Window of Reconciliation With Land (June 10-30) C) Window of Reconciliation With G-d (September 10-30) D) Window of Reconciliation With Destiny (December 10-31)
And with respect to each of those for dynamics, there appears to be a grace to engage with those particular dynamics during those particular times of the year.
3) We answered the when of this question (during the dates in question). How we access them is by intentionally engaging with the principles necessary to build each of those dynamics.
For example, for healthy community, there is a book by Cloud and Townsend called Boundaries. I can recommend other books easily, but for my particular purposes, and my own particular situation, that book has been critical to the building of healthy community and relationships. And with the number of relationships that reactivated this past March, and that I was given access to, paired with the relationship I lost, because boundaries became a major sticking point for whether or not those relationships strengthened or weakened, that book has been central in this season of growth. The book I would recommend also would depend on the nature of the community with which one is dealing. There are books on marriage and family, dating, parenting, you name it.
For reconciling land, there are resources from Arthur if you want to go that route, and also John Loren Sandford. I also recommend taking to someone who is good with discerning land dynamics and structures. Given I do this fairly extensively, and I enjoy working with land, I am able to help in this arena.
But reconciling to land is one of those things we don’t often think of, especially because of the stigma associated with New Age tied to land.
The real problem with people who would assign the label New Age to given practice, is that New Age really boils down to one thing: period. Object of worship. In my particular case, I actually talk to land and plants and structures on land on a fairly consistent basis. And I know with those plants and structures in the land are often feeling at times. If you were to hand me a map of a piece of land, I’m fairly adapter, telling you what sort of structures are on it. And I’ve also worked with portals pretty extensively.
Some others have earned authority in the area of human relationships. And I would also recommend conversations with those sorts of people.
Anyway, these segments of time card windows of reconciliation were made, so that we could interact with those four dynamics, and make some tremendous mileage counts in the arena of growth. Because Father doesn’t just want us to heal and deliver; He also wants to see us grow.
Anyway, those are some initial thoughts. I look forward to your questions, comments or other thoughts.
Also, as to the dynamic as to whether or not, there are other windows…. I have begun experimenting with the window of reconciliation of 10 days on either side of Halloween to see if there is any thing that takes. I could be imagining things, or there could actually be something there.
When the King gives you an opportunity, tools, training, and vision, there are some options in which you can engage with those things:
1) complain about what seems to be missing.
2) leave aside His input entirely.
3) continue with what you have in hand and ask His counsel along the way.
4) build something with those items.
5) consult your spirit about what he or she wants to do with those.
6) write out a plan.
7) brainstorm.
8 ) fly by the seat of your pants.
9) consult with your friends about the situation.
10) wait and discern the timing.
11) develop a strategy with the tools while we wait.
12) ponder waiting for further resources.
13) wait and rest while giving our whole person time to catch up to where the L-rd has placed us.
14) Reorient
15) Leverage what we have to something greater
A few days ago, I posted from The Paraclete’s Hammer, my website, a blog post on εκβάλλω, the Greek word employed by John Mark, who wrote the earliest Gospel.
It describes Yeshua getting thrown or driven into the wilderness by the Spirit, following His baptism and evoking the Father’s pleasure. It is possible, given Messiah’s full humanity, that He needed to take a moment and reorient Himself to His new surroundings.
And the same holds true for us. When we are disoriented, we need to take stock and assess. Maybe even develop a plan. And that’s not just a plan for in the wilderness with survival. It’s a longer-term plan for the seasons beyond the wilderness.
Sometimes, we turn waiting in a passive thing, which is fine if we need to rest and recoup and we are a touch disoriented about the plan going forward.
However, waiting can also be an active exercise, depending on the needs of the season.
Waiting can be a developing season.
Removal of junk, clarifying of perspective, removal of obstacles, distillation of identity.
So, if you are thrown, ponder what the King has for you.
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”
Matthew 4:1 (ESV)
You know, gang, there is a word in this verse that I like to look at, especially because of the Markan account’s differentiation.
Gang, sometimes there is a wilderness….
And sometimes there is a gentle leading….
This wilderness and temptation is not that gentle leading stuff, and this is also not necessarily tender and affectionate. This is εκβάλλω.
See the Mark account, which is the language of a Prophet. Mark was, in the language of some, taking down the recountings of Peter, who always entered a room mouth-first. Peter, as a Redemptive Gift Prophet wasn’t know for his gentleness, but rather his boldness. And in Jesus retelling of his wilderness experience, Peter got the sense that the King wasn’t being tensely led out or slowly led out, as a bridegroom does for their bride.
The Spirit immediately drove him out (threw him out) into the wilderness.
Mark 1:14 (ESV)
“Drove”, or, as the Greek says, “thrown out”, which is the same word used when Yeshua talked about throwing out demonic entities.
Yes, this was a fathering approach. It was this dynamic pregnant with “get thee thence eftsoons”. Without delay, with purpose.
Gang, yes, this isn’t the kind language of Hosea, “who is this coming up from the wilderness leaning on her Beloved?”. And there is a time and a place for soft and gentle language and action. But there is also a time for us to get thrown into situations that the King knows will make us uncomfortable.
So, as squishy as He might make you, and as lovesick as His interacting with you might make you, those memes about the L-rd will never push you, drive you, are simply untrue.
They are memes, which is why they make a quick attention grab, but they are usually trite and overused.
Also, rememeber (pun intended), this getting thrown is to a specific purpose. Truly, the L-rd may suddenly move you into a place, and you will feel a driving force. He may order a separation or a push that He won’t tell anyone else about.
And it can look or feel like an internal drive or an external drive.
Or He might assign to you a task with a specific timeframe, and tell you to get cracking on it.
But, be encouraged, because there will be wild beasts there to connect with and malakim to minister living water.
And that season will feel full of focussed intensity. As in the case of Yeshua, it was 40 days.
Beloved, I invite your spirit forward to treat with me in the name of Yeshua.
Spirit, listen to the word of El Shaddai, for you today.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.
And I shall dwell in the house of the L-rd forever.
Psalm 23:8 (ESV)
Goodness is G-d’s assessment of his creation. And G-d called all that he had created and made good. Tov. It was pleasing to behold. Goodness is designed to track and accompany us all of the days of our lives. It is not a temporary thing that happens, as if it is something we strive for. It’s a life flow that reminds us of the core of who we are on our worst days.
Mercy, by contrast, is for the worst of what happens to us. When we mess up, Abba, Our Father, is still with us and for us and falls is good. When we mess up, He reminds us through Mercy that He still wants us. Goodness reminds us of who we are as He designed us. Mercy is for our mess-ups in action.
We might do bad stuff, but that doesn’t mean bad is who we are in core.
We need Mercy to protect us when we get assaulted in our core.
Spirit, you will not be put out of your Father’s house simply because you messed something up.
Spirit, He designed you to be His chip off the old block.
Spirit your dwelling place is in His home.
So, spirit, I bless you to remain at home. His home is a place where you are always welcome. His home is not a place of rejection. Rather, it’s a place of acceptance. It’s a place of tenderness. It’s a place of affection. And it’s a place where the heartache can just melt away.
I bless you to recognize this about your parents. Though they are imperfect, they yearn for you to have a place for you can just rest and be yourself. They yearn for you to come home.
Spirit, there is more for you than just a place of abuse and pain. There is more than just a place of rejection.
No rejection in the arms of your Father.
Spirit, I bless you with the revelation of that. Deeply, may it penetrate your deepest places. Those places where your life flow is deep enough for the stuff of dreams. The place where your yearnings mean reality and bring destiny into place.
The place of love. The House of the L-rd.
I bless you to rest in His goodness, His mercy, and His home.
I bless you to be filled with all the fullness of G-d in your heart. I bless your heart to be stabilized by His presence, and with His grace, and in His love.
I bless you to know the compassion that brings you home when you’re hurting.
and I bless you with the tenacity to latch onto the goodness of G-d all throughout your life in every facet.
I bless you to be merciful, so that you will also be shown mercy. Boatloads of mercy.
and I bless you to find your ultimate dwelling place with the King.
