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Blessing of Stillness #3

The Good Versus the Best

Beloved, I call your spirit, in whatever state it is or they are, broken or mended, wounded or healed, integrated or disintegrated, to attention in the name of Yeshua.

Listen to the word of G-d for you:

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise…
Genesis 3:6

A well-known figure in the charismatic movement heard the L-rd say “son, it wasn’t the evil side of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that Eve was drawn to. It was the good side.”

Spirit, in that moment when Eve left off talking to the serpent, her attention was fixed on the Tree of Knowledge itself.  She was pondering the nature of the Tree of Knowledge.  That moment became a moment of stillness for her.

And, lest we drive to quickly past this story because we have heard it before and know how it ends, let’s consider the following.  The Tree of Knowledge had some qualities that were good and desirable.  Remember, everything G-d made in the garden was good.  Repeatedly in Genesis 1 and 2, G-d refers to various things as good.  And on the third day, when he made the lush grasses, vegetation, and trees, he created the Garden of Eden, and the two trees in the Garden, the Tree of Knowledge, and the Tree of Life.  Both were good.
 
But just because something is good on the one hand does not mean that it is something G-d has for us.  In fact, on the other hand we can grasp for something that is good that is not His best.

There is a good that is not submitted to G-d that can blow our lives apart and destroy us.  This unsubmitted good led to the fall of humanity.

In that moment, which was a moment of stillness, Eve had the opportunity to consider what she should do.  Her husband was there, also contemplating what should be done, and he did not speak up, nor does Scripture say that they consulted with one another, as probably should have happened here.  Also, with that moment of stillness, Eve had unhindered access to G-d and could have sought Him out concerning the serpent’s exhortations and concerning things that were good but not the best for her.

Spirit, in your place of disintegration, there are parts of you that are not your core, at the depths of you, that might provide you with all sorts of good options and choices for how you spend your time and who you connect with.  Many of these options lead to some paths that could bear some real life-giving fruit for you and for others.

But then there are those things that the Spirit of G-d is showing you, things that He wants you to do, things that resonate deeply with your core, and those things are the best things, and you know they are the best because deep cries out for deep. The depths of your core cry out for the depths of G-d’s core.
 
Spirit, there is a choice that is good for you to make between the good and the best.
 
So, I bless you with being able to recognize a moment of stillness when it comes, in order to discern between the good and the best.

I bless you with being able to clearly hear the core of your spirit when you are surrounded with voices that pull at you from all sorts of directions to places that lack stillness.

I bless you with being able to clearly distinguish between the voices speaking to you.  I bless you to know when the voice is part of your shattered or divided spirit, the voice of the core of your spirit, the voice of your soul or one of its parts, the voice of the enemy, and the voice of one of the members of the Trinity.

I bless you, those of you who are intense, with being able to have moments and seasons where you can utilize the stillness in order to focus your intensity on the best thing G-d has for you.

I bless you, in those moments of contemplating a good that is not the best, with being able to engage with the Trinity, in that moment of stillness, when that choice is before you, so that you can receive from the Triune G-d the counsel that He would give you in that moment.

I bless you, in those moments, with being able to recall and rehearse the principles G-d has already given you.

I bless you with being able to strongly and deeply lean into those principles, and being able to stand on that counsel when a hundred voices are trying to pull you away from that counsel and from off of those principles.

I bless you to connect, at the core part of your spirit, with the Father of Lights, who provides the good and perfect gift, that is best among a whole range of good options.  I bless you to see the most life-giving option available.
 
I bless you to connect with the Man of Dominion, Yeshua of Nazareth, who is your loyal Bridegroom. Yeshua crushed the head of the serpent so that the serpent’s voice would not have to compete with Yeshua’s voice.

I bless you to connect deeply with the Ruach ha-Kodesh, the Holy Spirit, who was given to you to counsel, guide, and protect you from the pushy wiles of the wicked adversary, and to protect you from the subtle influences of those things which are good but because they are unsubmitted to G-d, they are not His best for you.

I bless you with the quiet place of stillness in order to process all of that, in the name of Yeshua of Nazareth.
 

Blessing of Stillness #2

Differentiation

Beloved, I call your spirit to attention in the name of Yeshua, in whatever state it is or they are, shattered or single, healed or broken, assaulted or gathered,

Listen to the word of G-d for you for today.

Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?”
And he said, “She is in the tent.”
The L-RD said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.”
–Genesis 18:8-10-

Spirit, there were several points in the interactions between Abraham and Almighty G-d that were marked by silence. This account in Mamre is no exception. After Abraham greeted the three men and set a meal before them, Scripture says that “he stood by them under the tree while they ate”.

Abraham did not pepper them with questions about their identity or origins. Abraham didn’t converse with these men about his problems.  Rather, he stood, quietly, while they ate.

Abraham’s most pressing need in this season in his life was a legacy.  G-d knew that, and so, at some point following their meal, he spoke directly to that issue. “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son”.
 
But between the time when Abraham set the meal before the three visitors and when they spoke, there was an important moment of silence.

Spirit, there will be times when we need to ask for counsel from either godly people in our lives whom we trust or from the L-rd himself.  For, as Scripture says elsewhere, “in the multitude of counselors there is safety” (Proverbs 11:14).  In those times, we might need many voices speaking to our situation from a wealth of experience.

However, there will be times when that multitude of voices will be counterproductive.  A great number of people speaking into a situation can counterproductive, because it can lead us away from the still place that we may desperately need without realizing it.
 
In those moments, we need to be able to come apart from the many words of our counselors, and just to stand in the stillness in the presence of the L-rd and wait for Him to speak.
 
In that place of stillness and silence in the Brooding Presence of the L-rd, Father does four things. First, He enables us to refocus on the point of life:  Our Father.  Second, as we stand still with that focus, He brings a sense of clarity.  Third, He ministers to the depths of our spirits.  Fourth, we receive the patience that is critical for the season of silence between when the Word of G-d speaks and when the breakthrough manifests.

So I bless you, spirit, with the wisdom to be able to differentiate between when you need wise counselors, and when you need to stand still in Father’s presence.

I bless you with the wisdom to know when the moment or season of standing in stillness arrives.

I bless you, spirit, with the desire and the capacity to wait in the stillness for Father’s response, when waiting does not make sense.

I bless you with the willingness to refocus on the Father instead of on the situation.

I bless you with the patience needed to wait in Father’s presence in order to receive the clarity and patience that is critical before He speaks.

I bless you, spirit, with the deepening that comes to you as you wait in His presence.

I bless you with the capacity to receive the amount and depth of patience that will be necessary to carry you between when you first hear the word of the L-rd, and when the breakthrough comes.

I bless you with that receptivity in the name of Yeshua.

Blessing of Stillness #1

The Still Place

Beloved, I call your spirit in whatever state it or they are in, shattered or single, broken or mended, to attention on the name of Yeshua of Nazareth.

Listen to the word of G-d for you for today:

“Be still, and know that I Am G-d”
Psalm 46:10

Spirit, there is a place that Scripture calls “still”.
 
In this place called “still”, there is room for hearing the Father’s voice and seeing his face.
 
In this place, where every moment for I Am is the present moment, because Father is off the timeline, He is in no rush.  He speaks in the stillness and works in the stillness.
 
His stillness is a place where, even though your enemies compass about you, there is a capacity to hear in peace and in shalom.
 
In this still place, all the millions of facets of you are able to be in stillness.
 
In this still place, Father shines the kaleidoscope of his affections on you.
 
In the stillness, those who would otherwise be busy with the hustle and bustle of their lives stop to admire the stained glass, which tells a deep tale though it feels it is a jumble of pieces.
 
In the stillness, the beauty of the bride’s radiance is reflected in the bridegroom’s eyes.
 
In the stillness of the secret place, the bride is able to know the voice and eyes of the bridegroom.
 
In the still place, where Father calls you, you are able to know his voice and the depths of him for whom the depths of you cry out.
 
In the still place, you are brought to a place of clarity.
 
And this clarity is reflected in Father’s eyes.
 
I bless you with the capacity to know the many facets of the still place.
 
I bless you with the capacity to reap a dignity in the still place that displaces the shame of you thinking you have to perform a certain way or be a certain way or look a certain way in order to look right in the eyes of other believers.
 
I bless you with a revelation of intimacy that only comes from being in the still place.
 
I bless you with the revelation that he is I Am in the still place.
 
I bless you to know Father’s affection for you in a place that is free from shame shame at who you feel.

I bless you with a place that is free from the pressure to be or perform a certain way in order to gain acceptance from the religious culture that is full of insensitivity.
 
I bless you with that dignity in the name of Yeshua.

This is from a conversation I had recently with a Prophet.
This could get me into a lot of trouble…
I love trouble…here goes.
I don’t always know that forgiveness and asking the L-rd to restrain judgment on others is always the right course of action.
Let me begin the process of building that one out for you.
Forgiveness is a really good thing for many reasons. But during certain seasons, G-d has been waiting to execute justice that is being miscarried because His children have been told to forgive to the point where they have no will in the matter, and such that they are made into doormats. I don’t think unconditional forgiveness without exception is G-d’s will.
As a huge example, the L-rd many times told Jeremiah to stop praying so that He could finally judge the people.
There are times when our only prayer is to forgive them, when we really should be asking the L-rd if it is His desire to execute justice for the purpose of retribution, because otherwise it is delaying a portion of our calling, or it is delaying His purpose in an area from moving forward.
We need to become experts, not at unconditionally forgiving and asking G-d to forgive people, but at moving with the L-rd, keeping in step with Him, and knowing what His will is, even if that will is something that is not pleasant to our sentiments or our own sanctified viewpoints. We need to become experts at knowing what G-d wants to execute and accomplish in a given season. And because we walk in so much authority with Him, sometimes our prayers asking Him to forgive are keeping Him from moving forward so that He can bring to pass a portion of our calling and birthright. If we are asking Him to forgive someone that is blocking His intended purpose for us from going forward, then His intended purpose will not go forward. If we are asking G-d to pour out his grace and love on an obstacle to His intended plan and purpose, then we are frustrating His grace and His intent.
If we behave like Jeremiah, when it is G-d’s season for executing judgment, then we are just as guilty of resisting His will as Jonah who fought G-d’s intent to forgive Nineveh.
We are not to keep in step with unconditional forgiveness; rather, we are to keep in step with His will for a particular season.
Now, granted, I can see people using this to selfishly curse other people, but that is not the dynamic I am driving at.
There are times when we, in our authority, forgive, and forgive, and forgive, when we should be calling for Father to move in accordance with His will and purposes. That is we should be calling for and agreeing with His desire to execute judgment, especially where there is a real (not perceived) perversion or miscarriage of justice.
If the sins of the Amorites are not yet full, then there is still time for them to repent, but if it is time for the L-rd to judge someone or something or a situation, then we would do well to not stand in the way.

Just some thoughts. What do y’all think?

Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. -John 20:23-
Let me throw an addendum here, from a conversation with Alan Champkins and Sam Roberts:
It was suggested that judgment was one of two flavors: criticism or assessment.
Let me throw a third dynamic.
Judgment refers to decision.
Not criticism of an individual.
Not criticism AGAINST someone.
But a decision with respect to an individual.
So, since the OP is an Exhorter, let’s use the three easy illustrations from Scripture that expand what I mean.
And we do at some point move beyond assessment to rendering a decision that does not involve criticism.
Moses, judged the people in Exodus 18. He showed them the laws, and decided.
This is first example of judgment at work.
Second, Solomon judged. He decided between two women with respect to a baby. No criticism of people. Just judgment.
Paul criticized the actions of the Corinthians for failing/refusing, not merely to assess, but also to decide between cases, and because they involved the secular, unredeemed governing authorities in court cases.
We are designed to walk in authority through adjudication of cases when there are disputes.
So, as to assessment, I believe we are shorting ourselves as to what we are designed to walk in.
And three Exhorters illustrated and gave us principles for handling judgment rightly.
And guess what? It was done successfully without the involvement of inflamed emotions.
Now in order to set that up in the local churches, it requires a level of maturity that is not held in large part through trustworthy individuals. But it is possible.
And I will probably post a second blog post that covers this as well.
Thanks for the lively responses.
Cheers!

A friend of mine, Archbishop Daniel Williams, recently posted the following to his blog, Coffee On the Dock. I cannot recommend his work highly enough.

OTHERS MAY, I MAY NOT
Learning to turn away from appealing but short-lived gratification is a process. We tend to think of holiness as a rules-based form of life, but it it so much deeper and richer than that; it is not so much what we do or not do as much as it is sensitivity and obedience to God’s voice. It is primarily inward, not outward. Once I complained how unfair it seemed that many others appeared to be less restricted than I. As I questioned the Lord on this I heard Him speak as loudly in my heart as I ever have in my life: “Others may, you may not.” I said out loud with sarcastic indignation: “That’s it? Others may, I may not?!!” Silence. His answer required no further explanation. Father, you discipline the ones You love. Forgive my contemptuous hubris; Your high call requires my very best. Period.

“If anyone says he has read all of Augustine’s writings, he is a liar.”

DISCLAIMER:

For the record, these are my own nuanced thoughts on the topic.

With many thanks to Sandy Landry, who had the patience as a mother in Israel, to work through the Gifts with me, for working with me through towards my Redemptive Gift, and Anna Zimmerman, who was the first to challenge the idea that I was a Teacher.

As I had said before, I first encountered Arthur Burk’s material 18 years ago. Specifically with respect to the Redemptive Gifts of Cities. I was going to college at the time, in a Teacher City, and belonged to a Teacher Church.

So, my very first shoulder rub with the Redemptive Gift’s (RG’s) was with the gift of Teacher.

My best friend, for the longest time after he had first pegged me as an Exhorter, became convinced after some discussion that I was in fact a Teacher.  Some other friends also had that thought, and even some mentors and pastors.

That was until I had a conversation with Anna, in which she ranted about the various gifts in relation to me. I had earlier been in the process of thinking that I was a Teacher, a Prophet, or a Mercy (go ahead and laugh at that one, after all that is why you read my writings: to laugh and to receive the medicine that you need for your liver complaint.

I had recently taken Mercy off of the Table, and was thinking that maybe I was a Prophet.

I was in the process of telling Anna that I was wavering between Prophet and Teacher, and despite my vast library, I made an observation that in my spirit that I was Prophet despite that. It was something I felt.

So, I told Anna that I thought I was a Prophet, and she replied affirmitavely that I was.

So, I asked her to expand on her reasoning for that, and the following piece gives some wonderful nuggets as to how some of the gifts flow.

Okay, Father, you are the G-d of Community, and so, Father, I step into Your presence in accordance with John 14:6.
Your WORD DOES NOT SAY THAT WE LIVE IN MANSIONS DOWN THE STREET FROM YOUR HOUSE!  YOUR WORD SAYS SPECIFICALLY THAT YOUR HOME CONTAINS ROOMS FOR EACH OF US.
I RENOUNCE THE IDEA THAT WE HAVE TO BE A DISJOINTED, FACTIOUS MESS!
Your Word says that “in my Father’s House are many ROOMS, not MANSIONS!  Besides, Even in the KJV, “Mansion” is from the Latin word manere meaning “dwelling place” and the Greek there is μοναὶ meaning “a place to remain” or “a room”.
It doesn’t say we have a house disjointed down the road from Father’s house. It says explictly that we have a place IN Father’s home.  I don’t live down the road from Daddy’s house where He gets tired of seeing me, and then I have to go home for a few days before I can see Him again.  I live with my Father.
I step into Your Presence with my Tribe. Every.  Single.  One.  Of.  Them.  And I ask You, the Father of Community, to align each us with whatever expressions of community You want for each of us, both individually and in the various groupings in which You intend for us to dwell.  Would You do what You do best, and bring us into the various places of community You have designed for each of us, even if those expressions are not legitimized by the institutional churches as we have experienced them?
We want Your community, whatever that looks like.  No limitations on that, and no religious perversions of that.  Your kingdom come, and Your will be done, Precious, Affectionate, Righteous, and Liberating Father..
Further, I come against and nullify every poison pin that other believers have sentenced each of us to out of the Spirit of Jealousy.  I ask, Father, for you to remove both the substance and effects of the poison and bitter gall from us.
Community. Not forced. Not coerced. Not manipulated. Just the way You want it.
We hunger for a life-giving community in Your hands and in Your affections.  Thank you L-rd.
So, Father, would You begin the process that leads to reconciliation with Your ordained communities, in whatever fashion You desire such reconciliation should happen.
In the name of Yeshua ha-Mashiach.

A few days ago, I pondered the following sequence of Christology.
Life of Christ = Time
Death of Christ = Land
Burial of Christ = Community
Resurrection of Christ = Birthright
Ascension of Christ = Office
And I want to focus on the middle one because of some implications for the season we are approaching soon in terms of reconciliation.
Christ’s burial happened in the context of community.
Granted, it was not the kind of thing one traditionally thinks of when one imagines the word “community” but community it was nonetheless. Nicodemus and Jospeh of Arimathea, two little-known characters, one who came to the L-rd in the middle of the night and provided us with the first half of John 3 in that famous exchange that led to John’s exposition starting in verse 16, and the other unknown until this point, took Jesus’ body and paid him honor.
Let’s consider for a moment the verse that deals explicitly with more of Joseph’s motives.
The text in Mark 15:43 says that he was “a respected member of the council (possibly the Sanhedrin) who was also himself looking for the kingdom of G-d…”.
It is possible that, as a disciple of Jesus, he knew about Jesus’ promise of being resurrected, something about which Jesus himself spoke.  And thus, knowing this, he asked for the body of Jesus.
The kingdom happens in community, not in solitude.  It happens with others.  Joys are experienced, lives are changed and made whole, and it takes the grain of wheat falling to the ground and dying for people to be brought together.
Consider the community of two on the way to Emmaus.
The community of Eleven just before Jesus appeared.
The community of Peter and John running to the tomb.
The community of John and Mary brought together in Jesus’ death.
The community of Joseph and Nicodemus, who were hunting for the kingdom, brought together in order to bury the body of Jesus.
And reconciliation often happens at funerals, and only happens in the context of community.
When others are reconciled to G-d, they are reconciled to a community of Three.  The Trinity is a community.
And salvation often happens when we are faced with mortality, often in light of someone we deeply love being buried.
It’s our job to be reconciled, lest we die alone and in bitterness.
So, I bless you in this season of being reconciled, as you seek to know Him, that you would be reconciled to G-d and to those from whom you have been deeply estranged.  I bless you with a right sense of where your place is.  I bless you with a right sense of who your tribe is.  I bless you with a revelation of where G-d wants you.  And I bless you with an understanding of the depth of His love.
I bless you with the pigheaded stubbornness that comes with recognizing your place and a refusal to bow to the pressures of others who tell you that you have no place.  I bless you with the fierce intentionality that you will not rest (except when He calls you to rest) until you are squarely placed within the communities for which He has designed you.  Whether that is a mission field, or a church, or a family, or the Trinity, or a marriage, or a workplace, or another life-giving context of friendships.
I bless you with the sobering revelation that the Son was buried so that you could be knit and vulnerable with the right people yet again, whatever that looks like for your unique context.
As you struggle to be part of a community, may you find the right one that is life-giving.  I bless you  with this revelation as we enter this season of reconciliation of community.
And I bless you to consider the communities that were formed in the context of Christ’s burial.
No burial. No resurrection.
No burial. No communities of intimacy.
No risk or skin in the game. No thrill of exhilaration as you find your place in community.
 

The text is made up of two phrases, set parallel in comparison to one another.

Now, I think Solomon’s theology was off.

It was off because as an Exhorter, he was designed to know G-d and just chose to not do so. He maxed out everything but that one bit: knowing G-d and making Him known.

It is the glory of G-d to conceal a matter and the glory/honor of a king to search the matter out (Proverbs 25:2, Revelation 1:6).

In Hebrew, we call this a Particle of Comparison, Proportion, or Similarity. It compares, relates, or sets in proportion two different objects: in this case, the spirit and the bones.

2) Therefore it was important that that system remain undefiled in Christ.

3) Likewise, the spirit is critical to life.

4) Therefore, perhaps we can say there is a life-giving tandem that is designed to occur between bones and spirit.

5) Perhaps the spirit is what clothes and vivifies the bones, as reflected in Ezekiel 37:3, and Proverbs 17:22 (extend the principle),

A half-baked potato, perhaps. And a theory I will hold onto loosely.

But, there you go.

My take on Ecclesiastes 11:5

This is a very practical and well-organized grab-bag of tools for those working through answering the question of whether or not an AHS is present with them.  Beyond the value toward working with AHS’s, there are sundry other topics that can really be fleshed out
 
Arthur here talks about some more of the practical aspects, having covered the theology and the theory of AHS in the first series.
 
He covers the fact that there are a number of usual ways that AHS’s gain entry, and most of those revolve around some means by which we are either empathetic toward the dead and dying, or have some vested interest in or affection towards the dead. Think Navy SEALS, Paramedics, those involved with the Pro-Life Movement, and those who are just nice and sociable with very few social guards, in addition to those who have vows of connectivity and social contracts.
 
There were a couple of aspects that sparkled deeply for me and those parts have broader application for beyond AHS.  For example, the segment on Bones sparkled for me. There is a depth of exposition that Arthur brings out of the collective text of Scripture that the church has done a shamefully anemic job of expounding when it comes to the skeletal system.  The Psalms and the Proverbs talk about those things that bring greater life to our bones, and it is left to some soul or group of souls to unpack a good theology of bones.
 
Also, concerning the Parietal lobe and spatial relationships, I was completely floored.  The building of parietal lobe that happens when we are out of proper parietal functions.  I struggle with some clumsiness issues, and the idea that an AHS might be the responsible is astounding.
Arthur mentions the Hip, the Adrenal Gland, the Prostate, the Legs, and other places in the body. He then moves into a discussion of authority and then finalizes with a discussion on land.
The level of variety in this teaching set is just flat-out beefy.  It is not just one genre of teaching alone, though it revolves around the topic of AHS’s.
It is a veritable Potpourri of vintage Sapphire Wine, and I cannot recommend it enough.
May you be blessed.